Experience
Safari Activities
For us, the Wildlife Safari Activities were a huge source of information, about the animals. Let me share some of these experiences with you.
They had a world-renowned cheetah breeding program, one of only two AZA accredited facilities with hands-on elephant experiences in the country, up-close and personal lion viewings and over 600 animals to see during the drive-thru.
We followed the following schedule:
Spring Break in Safari Village
- Village Conservation Show: Saturday- March 20th through Sunday March 29th
- Show was held in the Dome at 12:30pm
- No shows on Wednesday the 25th
- Tortoise Walk at 2:00pm everyday, and,
- Maned Wolf Keeper Talk at 4:00pm everyday.
Elephant Car Wash
It costed us only $20 to have our car washed by very talented African Elephants in the drive thru. The elephants seemed to have a lot of fun playing in the water and washing our car. Of course, the car was far from being clean.
Bears: The bears were hibernating and were only going to wake up in spring. We were told that the Bear Area will be open for drive-thru then, seven days a week.
Lions and Cheetahs: These drive-throughs were open during weekends only.
Photos with “Taini”- The ambassador Cheetah: We were allowed to take photos with Taini by appointment by calling their Guest Services at 679-6761-ext 203. We took the photos during the Safari Overlook, which was their manicured park-like setting overlooking the Safari Rangeland. We received personal encounters with Taini, got to hear more about her and learnt some cheetah facts. We couldn’t pet the Cheetah but were allowed close-up experience and could also take photos on our own. We received an 8×10 and two 4×6 photos with Taini and the entire photo encounter costed us $100.00 per group. Of course, we could also buy additional prints for $10 per print. The photos were ready soon after the photo shoot. We were also told that a portion of the proceeds from all those pictures went to Cheetah Conservations Fund in Namibia. The CCF was doing a great job in helping to save wild cheetahs and was founded by Laurie Marker who began her career at Wildlife Safari.The entire photo encounter lasted between 10-30 minutes. The time taken depends mostly on Taini’s attitude than on any other factors.
Camels Rides: We paid $10.00 per person for camel rides and waited for the weather’s permit for the same.
Safari Petting Zoo: During our visit, the Safari Petting Zoo was open 7 days a week for petting, viewing and feeding. Between Mondays and Thursdays, the goat area was open) for interaction from 10:00-12:30. The animals which featured in the Safari Petting Zoo were Llamas, goats (including its 4 babies),and Snowball (the black tail deer). They just seemed to be waiting for us to go and pet them!
Train Rides: The train rides costed us $2.00 per person. The members rode free.