On our first day in San Diego, we visited the San Diego Zoo, and on our second day, we visited the San Diego Safari Park. We were able to use our newly purchased annual passes twice, once for each location, which are sister zoological parks.

In case you didn’t read my previous post, we only managed to use them twice, since shortly after our visit we left California for Colorado, otherwise they were valid 365 days of the year. A great deal!

I had visited the zoo all throughout my childhood, many times, but this was only my second time visiting the Safari Park. Technically, I visited it when I was a very young child, but I don’t remember visiting. Absolutely nothing about it recalled any memories, so I’m counting this as a first time visit.

The park is sprawling and meant to mimic a more natural environment, rather than a traditional zoo. The E-ticket attraction is an open air safari ride that goes through an African savannah type of terrain.

Our first animals, were of course, the flamingos. We visited shortly before Halloween, hence the skeleton flamingo.

One of my favorite parts of the Safari Park was the “Walkabout Australia” section. it was a huge open area with kangaroos and wallabies, in which you could actually pet the animals. Visitors needed to stay on a wooden trail, but if the marsupials hop over to you, you are allowed to give them a pet.

Naturally, they sensed my desperation and excitement to touch them and stayed far away from me. I was only able to observe them, but I still found this section of the park to be delightful. I could have easily spent the whole day here. The Australia section had fun theming and cool rock work.

The Safari Park has a beautiful botanical garden. We were basically alone, which made it feel peaceful and remote, as we enjoyed the crazy cactus and unusual plants.

Fortunately, we did not encounter any snakes. Dan would have left the park immediately, whether or not the snake was wild or behind glass. He’s very Indiana Jones on this topic.

An assortment of animals that we saw in the park.

They may be the fastest land mammals, but I also learned that cheetahs are shy and anxious felines. The cheetah at the Safari Park has an emotional support dog. It looked like a Labrador. We didn’t see the dog in the exhibit, but apparently they are the best of friends. The Safari Park also has daily demonstrations to show how fast the cheetah can run.

One of my favorite things in Orlando is the Kilamajaro Safaris at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, which is very similar to the tram experience at the San Diego Safari Park. The Disney version is more polished and immersive, but they are similar in the respect that both give a semblance of a safari on the African savannah. I’ve not yet been to Africa, so this is the best I have for now. It’s on the bucket list!

After our trip to the savannah, we refreshed ourselves with the most bizarre theme-park food concoction = Craft Beer Float. We were curious, so we bought one to share. Sharing was more than we needed. root beer floats are delicious, Coke floats are delicious….beer floats are gross.

And a few more fun pictures to end my review.

I throughly enjoyed our day at the San Diego Safari Park and I’d look forward to returning in the future. It’s beautifully laid out and themed, but even more important, the San Diego Zoological Association has an excellent reputation for animal care.