Girl's Weekend on Safari!

For MLK weekend, Maddy and I decided to take off for a special girl's weekend together:). We had heard about Lion Country Safari and decided to make the 3 hr drive early on Saturday morning to check it out. The park is about 45 mins inland from West Palm Beach in the middle of nowhere. When you arrive you get a daypass and can drive the 5 mile loop as often as you like all day. We took over 2 hours the first time through - there was so much to see!

The park describes itself as America's first 'cageless zoo' - all of the animals in the main areas can roam freely and the only animals with a fence between you and your car are the lions. Evidently the park was forced to make this decision due to the fact that people were getting out of their cars. Regardless of the fence it was amazing to see so many beautiful lions at such close quarters!

They have over 900 animals on display in enormous enclosures and they all looked really well cared for and were exhibiting natural behaviors - feeding, mating, dominance fighting, herding etc...it was just amazing to sit and watch them...

 

 

After the loop you come to a separate area where you can park up and walk around. There are plenty of animal feeding experiences and we did them all and loved them all:)

 

See how Maddy always tries to feed the underdog? I love that sweet heart of hers...;)

But our favorite interactive experience was feeding the giraffes - they were so docile and friendly and we were totally smitten :)

 

 

 We decided to go back around the loop again and I'm so glad we did since it was feeding time and the animals were really active and close to the car.

This ostrich got a little too close and tried to take our windshield wiper off. They grow to a over 350 lbs so it was actually a little scary!

On the second time around we spotted the week old newborn baby water buffalo with it's mom...

 

The chimpanzees were fed by the zookeepers in boats. They are all rescues and mainly former performing animals and are part of an ongoing research program to better understand their complex social structures. It was fascinating to watch them eat, play with toys and drink out of bottles!

We had a fantastic (and inexpensive) day out and it was well worth the drive. We totally recommend a day out at Lion Country Safari and can't wait to do it again soon!