Tuesday, February 18, 2020
Lion Country Safari is about 45 minutes west of West Palm Beach. Billed as a “cageless zoo,” the Lion Country Safari is an accredited zoo and licensed wildlife rehabilitation facility. In addition to the zoo, there is also a Safari World Adventure Park for Walk Through Safaris and a KOA campground for overnight guests.
This visit’s focus was only on the Drive-Through Safari, where visitors drive their cars through the zoo to look at animals.
The Drive-Through Safari is divided into seven sections. Each section highlights different wildlife species found on the African continent. Gates are at each section boundary. Each visiting vehicle is given an audio CD (that must be returned at the end) with a narrator acting as a guide.
Visitors are also provided with a field guide of sorts that can be used to identify species by matching the animal seen in the zoo to the picture in the pamphlet. This was a particularly welcome feature as most Americans are not familiar with African wildlife.
The most jarring aspect of touring this zoo was the park’s requirement to keep car windows and doors closed at all times. The message was printed on or near all gates.
There were also signs strategically placed throughout the park. Visitors are told when the purchase entrance tickets. The message is also on their website under the heading of Park Rules.
There is a tint to all of the pictures of this park as a result of taking pictures through tinted auto glass.
For the most part, traffic moves smoothly through each of the sections. Each of the sections except the gorilla and monkey section. The Gorillas were a bit sluggish.
The monkeys, however, were quite animated and entertaining. They were swinging and flying all over the place.
The Drive-Through Safari took less than one and a half hours.
I’m not sorry we visited this park. However, this is not a wildlife safari that we will be visiting again. The animals are often too far away to get a good look at. Seeing the park and the animals with the windows up is just not the desired experience. All of our pictures have a horrible tint to them. The Drive-Through Safari is over priced. The price per person was excessive. We had to return the tour CD at the end.
My comparable wildlife safari is Fossil Rim Wildlife Center in Texas, a much better experience with better animal interactions at a lower price.
Hope to see you on the road ahead!