San Diego Safari Park

We hadn't really planned on going to Safari Park, but extended family living in the area said it was a "must see" (more on local family in another post). So, off we went after purchasing "safari combo tickets" online and printing them out. The park rests in a beautiful valley in the foothills about 40 minutes north-east of Mission Bay RV Park. We left early and found the main gate without issues.

Long story shortened: And, consequently, that's where the "easy part" ended. Although we were there before opening, traffic was already backed up in the $20 parking area and filling fast. I paid the $20 and dropped Louise off at the main entrance and began looking for parking nearby. I found a place in VIP $22 parking, parked (no one around to pay), and hoofed it to the gate to find Louise and we headed for the turnstile entry line to the park.

Anyway, as it turns out, the Safari Combo Package I bought online for $120, didn't include actual "admission" into the Park, and the cart tour I booked was starting in 10 minutes. Say what? Thinking fast, I got on my phone and bought the requisite "admission" tickets, spending another $150, and we blasted at a joggers pace to the tour area.

We were late! The tour had left. But, one of the transport people thought we could catch them and offered to give us a ride ... off we went. Well, we almost caught up but not quite. We sat there in the cart, about to turn back, and another cart tour guide offered to take us on a "personal guided tour", just the guide and us ... Hey, somedays things do go right! A few pix of the things we saw follow:

That's Hillary, our tour guide, a 4-year employee of the Park. Super knowledgeable, a nice personality, and even had names for most of the animals we got to see. We received a history about the Park and the animals in a very personalized fashion. Awesome!

We had a good time on the tour and spent some time walking around the exhibits near the entrance. So, all said, an expensive but satisfying day for us. Following are a few more scenes from inside the park.

Yes, even a tethered balloon ride was available ... we passed on that! The carnivores are kept separate from the larger part of the Park for obvious reasons. I think the lions would keep the Park from growing the herds of prey animals in the valley.

Plus, I can't imagine the horror from kids, or adults, watching a cheetah or lion taking down a young antelope for an afternoon snack. So, they are kept in a zoo-like setting here and there around the park, which means a lot walking to get to everything; we passed on that too. It was a hot afternoon.

The take aways are, it was okay to visit at least once, do it on a cool day, on a weekday, and bring lot's of cash for surprises! 

So, on to the next stop, the actual San Diego Zoo, and more to come ...