The sun was just starting to rise, when a tremendous bellow crashed over San Pasqual Valley, waking everyone! It was Izu, the dominant male lion in the valley, announcing that he was awake. Now, everyone in the safari camp was awake, too.
It was the end of our first night on our safari adventure, and the roar shook the canvas walls of the metal-framed tents in our camp. We had heard small animals in the area all night, but Izu’s roar was different, majestic, and he was close, within a few hundred yards!
It was easy to imagine we were on safari in Africa, but in fact we were on safari in . . . San Diego, at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. We were in a group of 10 families, taking part in a “Road & Snore” sleep-over adventure for two good causes: we were getting educated about endangered animals and the means to help them survive, and learning about the new Universal Studios movie, Dr. Dolittle, which touches on those themes in an entertaining way.
We had never visited the Safari Park before, but by the end of our stay, we realized we had been overlooking a real gem of a family attraction, right in our own backyard. Truth is, our overnight stay, and all of the fun activities that went with it, turned out to be one of the most memorable family fun times we have ever had. Let me tell you why.
San Diego Zoo itself is a world-famous zoo, deservedly so – and it covers about 100 acres of animals on display.
But the Safari Park is much larger, 1,800 acres, located a few miles inland from the Pacific Ocean, and it really is a place for mostly endangered animals to live and roam in a natural habitat – and, incidentally, to let humans move through the habitat, and observe the animals. We went through the Safari Park several times – once at night, on a Night Safari in a truck, guided to watch animals through infrared night vision goggles, once on a tram early in the morning (thanks to Izu’s roar waking us up), and a third time in something like a large golf cart about mid-day, when almost all the animals were out and about. In every case, the guides did a wonderful and informative job of educating us about the animals we were seeing, their habits and lifestyle, and the threats they face in the wild.
The Safari Park really has two important missions, to help rescue endangered animals with advanced projects (such as making test-tube baby rhinos that are on the verge of extinction; Edward, the first test tube rhino in the world, lives in Safari Park) and to study them. That is why the folks who created the Dr. Dolittle movie reached out to the experts at Safari Park, to learn the facts and science about the animals who co-star in the movie.
One thing we all loved about the Safari Park is that it is pretty easy to get good, fairly close views of the animals – you can judge by some of the photos in this article. The animals live in their own natural environment, with different parts of the Safari Park designed to replicate desert, African plains, wetlands, and mountains; the Park is criss-crossed by footpaths and roads (all fenced safely to separate humans from animals) so that visitors can wander around to where the animals are, without cages in view where animals at other zoos often hide.
As for the “Road & Snore” overnight experience, that is an adventure where you spend the night in a large tent within the Safari Park, eat yummy but mostly simple meals outdoors, and get to explore the Safari Park after dark. You can learn more on Safari Park’s website. Our night tour guide was Cecily, who amazed us with her ability to walk backwards through the Park in the dark, all the while telling us interesting and educational information about the animals we are seeing. In fact, all of the guides and trainers at Safari Park were exceptionally helpful, in every way. In the morning, after Izu wakes you up, you have breakfast, and explore some more before the Park opens to the public. There are up-close presentations of some animals with their trainers – we got to meet Peanut the armadillo (fun to touch), Steve the kookaburra (fun to hear) , and Scooter the macaw (fun to see).
I have to say, the Park is exceptionally clean, and there is much to do besides walk or ride around. Red Bear and my husband went up in a helium balloon, about 400 feet into the sky, in order to look down on the whole Safari Park. While they were up there, they got to see Izu, the big lion, sunning himself on top of an old truck.
It was January, and it was chilly, but our safari tents actually had good electric heaters in them, and the bedding was warm and comfortable. Overall, we all agreed that this Roar & Snore adventure might have been the best one-night getaway we have ever had, and certainly it was the most unusual and surprising! If you decide to go, you will love it, but be prepared for a lot of walking – it’s a big park, and you will want to see everything.
Until you go, I hope you enjoy these pictures.
Visit the San Diego Zoo Safari Park here, and show some love to some specials in the same earth with us!
