Really Florida!

I’m almost ashamed to admit it, but I’ve lived within shouting distance (almost literally) of Lion Country Safari in Loxahatchee (West Palm Beach, Florida area) for 16 years, and I had never managed to visit. Kind of like living in Central Florida and not visiting Disney World.

So, what’s Lion Country Safari like? Well, it wasn’t what I expected, but David and I had a good time.

If you’re not quite sure what Lion Country Safari is supposed to be about, it’s a drive-though zoo, modeled after the plains of Africa. The animals roam free, and they can get close to the road, or even cross it while you’re driving along. There’s also an amusement park that’s included in the admission.

When you first drive in (and it’s $26 a person), you’re given a brochure and a cassette or CD. The brochure is to help identify the animals you see, and the cassette/CD is to narrate the journey in your car.

One thing about the cassette — it seems that they don’t rewind them (or they missed ours) because it started out in the middle of something. So we never were quite sure if we were listening to something we just passed or hadn’t approached.

And FYI — you will have to return the cassette/CD at the end of your safari, along with the case it came with.

The animals were great! Many of them were close to the road, so we had excellent views. Lots of antelope and zebras, plus water buffalo, rhinos, lions, elephants…these and more. All kinds of creatures. The lions were a bit far away, but still easy to see.

The drive took about an hour, what with stopping at points to look at the animals. And aside from the narrated tour being a little mixed up (we eventually just quit listening), we had fun.

Then there was the theme/amusement park. Hmmm, I think I’ll leave that part for another post. And I’ll also dig all the photos I took out from the recesses of my computer and share a few, for your enjoyment.