During the long weekend we went to Safari West in Solano County near Santa Rosa. Dimple had found out about this place through her R&D. It seemed something different and fun for kids. So we decided to try it out.
At its core its an exciting three hour, safari drive through which you explore the wildlife preserve, traveling in an authentic safari vehicle. Before getting on the safari, they take you around various cages where birds and other little animals are kept. The cheetahs are kept in a cage also and can be seen during walking tour.
Cheetah in the cage
The Safari ride itself is about 2 hours. They have a seat on top of the driver which gives an awesome feeling. Each safari vehicle takes around 12 people. They stop the vehicle 2-3 times for folks to exchange the top seat. The rainy season is not a good time to go since some roads may become muddy and they may skip that portion of the tour. So choose a nice day and go. They have 2 tours: 10am and 2 pm. And you need to reserve before going.
Rhinos
Our guide was fantastic (Stephen) and had good knowledge of the animals. We saw Giraffes, Ostriches, Rhinos :-), Zebras, Antelopes, etc on the safari. A ostrich came right near my face one time. :-). It followed our jeep for some time.
The Safari Vehicle
It may not be Africa, but it’s close! With animals roaming and running free outside your safari jeep this safari escape is the closest it comes without requiring a passport.
Our Tent Cabin
The other part of Safari West is that you can stay overnight within the preserve. They have nice tent cabins with electricity and heat (no TV). You cannot take your own vehicle to the cabin. So you have to be driven there by their vehicle. Some of the cabins are quite near the entrance though. So you can easily walk. We had a cabin with the view of the giraffes and other birds. It was awesome. The Cabins are a bit expensive at 200$+ per night. But it is worth it just for the experience.
They offer dinner through reservations but we took our own dinner. And good for that since I dont think there were many veggie options in the dinner. However they have free hot chocloate in the dining hall which was great in the cold night.
They took the giraffes inside a hut during night but they returned in the morning. In the morning we saw some people offering the giraffes grass and we started it too. We had so much fun with feeding them for 15 mins. Then the safari guy came and said we are not supposed to feed them. I suppose its ok to feed them once or twice but not for extended periods. So keep that in mind :-).
Dimple feeding the giraffes
Kairavi feeding the giraffes
Overall it was a good unique experience for kids and its a good weekend get away. If you just want to do the safari you can do it in a day trip also. If you are staying overnight, then you can explore city of Santa Rosa also.
Website: http://www.safariwest.com
View our Complete Photo Set here
Awesome photos, had a great time watching them. Sad that we cancelled our reservation during the winter holidays due to weather 🙁 . FYI – There is Lion Safari in Canada, not so far as Africa but still in Northern America 🙂 and can be done on the way to Detroit, if you happen to drive back from Toronto to Detroit. This one lets you take your own car as well.
Check out – http://www.lionsafari.com/location.asp for more details.
Nice pictures and great info.
Thanks Prashant.