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Wild Animal Park San Diego
Here is an article and interactive map with the latest at the WAP in SD. It shows how close you can get to the 'wild' animals on their safari tour.....which is well worth it IMHO. My wife and I took the Safari about 4 years ago and it was great...now our daughter is 8 yrs old so we can take her this summer. We really love this place.
Sunday, March 12, 2006
Smile with the animals
The Photo Caravan Safari at the San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park allows the most realistic encounters with animals outside of a journey to the plains of Africa and Asia. Click here to jump to our interactive map.
By CHANTAL LAMERS
The Orange County Register
Neither stilts nor stilettos can make a person as tall as a giraffe, but luckily neither are necessary to get close to the two-story giants, or almost any other animal, at San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park.
What was intended to be a mostly private backcountry zoo was changed by some unanticipated public curiosity. As word spread that hundreds of wild animals were moving to Escondido's sparsely populated valley in the early '70s, people came from across Southern California to welcome their new neighbors.
Sooner than the greenery could grow over fences, folks unearthed spots along Highway 78 that allowed glimpses inside the park, where giraffes and wildebeests meandered through rolling desert hills and shallow swamps.
The park offers some of the most realistic encounters with wild animals outside of a journey halfway around the world. But the icing on the cake is climbing aboard the Photo Caravan Safari and getting the opportunity to feed and pet giraffes and rhinos.
Once aboard the safari truck, passengers are taken on a semi-rustic adventure to five different habitats modeled after the plains of Africa and Asia. Among rocky hillsides, swamps and desert terrain are hundreds of animals that live, interact and breed like they might in the wild.
On safari, passengers can take pictures of the animals against backdrops of desert terrain and rows of palm trees. Passengers park next to zebras and ostriches. There are watering holes and bearded goats perched in treetops. And there are those aforementioned giraffes, which will gladly bring their heads down to the level of passengers for a visit.
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IT'S ALL HAPPENING AT THE WILD ANIMAL PARK ...
Slip on a pair of khakis, slap on some sunscreen and charge the camera batteries for a bumpy ride on the Photo Caravan Safari at San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park. Regular admission includes an hour-long tram ride around the park. Those willing to pay more can ride on dirt roads into five habitats that simulate parts of Africa and Asia. From the back of a truck, passengers come face to face with (and get to feed) curious giraffes and hungry 5,000-pound rhinos. These two- or four-hour tours bring passengers up close to water holes where buffalo roam, waterbuck wade and antelope play as they might in the wild. So relax as the safari begins, but keep your finger on the camera, because there’s no telling what will come into view on this wild ride.
IF YOU GO
ADDRESS: 15500 San Pasqual Valley Road, Escondido
GENERAL ADMISSION: $28.50; children ages 7-11, $17.50. Seniors and military personnel are eligible for a 10 percent discount. Parking: $8
PHOTO SAFARI: $90 to $130 (ages 8 and up)
RESERVATIONS: (619) 718-3000
INFORMATION: (760) 747-8702
WEB SITE: www.sandiegozoo.org/wap/
http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister...le_1037134.php
Sunday, March 12, 2006
Smile with the animals
The Photo Caravan Safari at the San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park allows the most realistic encounters with animals outside of a journey to the plains of Africa and Asia. Click here to jump to our interactive map.
By CHANTAL LAMERS
The Orange County Register
Neither stilts nor stilettos can make a person as tall as a giraffe, but luckily neither are necessary to get close to the two-story giants, or almost any other animal, at San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park.
What was intended to be a mostly private backcountry zoo was changed by some unanticipated public curiosity. As word spread that hundreds of wild animals were moving to Escondido's sparsely populated valley in the early '70s, people came from across Southern California to welcome their new neighbors.
Sooner than the greenery could grow over fences, folks unearthed spots along Highway 78 that allowed glimpses inside the park, where giraffes and wildebeests meandered through rolling desert hills and shallow swamps.
The park offers some of the most realistic encounters with wild animals outside of a journey halfway around the world. But the icing on the cake is climbing aboard the Photo Caravan Safari and getting the opportunity to feed and pet giraffes and rhinos.
Once aboard the safari truck, passengers are taken on a semi-rustic adventure to five different habitats modeled after the plains of Africa and Asia. Among rocky hillsides, swamps and desert terrain are hundreds of animals that live, interact and breed like they might in the wild.
On safari, passengers can take pictures of the animals against backdrops of desert terrain and rows of palm trees. Passengers park next to zebras and ostriches. There are watering holes and bearded goats perched in treetops. And there are those aforementioned giraffes, which will gladly bring their heads down to the level of passengers for a visit.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IT'S ALL HAPPENING AT THE WILD ANIMAL PARK ...
Slip on a pair of khakis, slap on some sunscreen and charge the camera batteries for a bumpy ride on the Photo Caravan Safari at San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park. Regular admission includes an hour-long tram ride around the park. Those willing to pay more can ride on dirt roads into five habitats that simulate parts of Africa and Asia. From the back of a truck, passengers come face to face with (and get to feed) curious giraffes and hungry 5,000-pound rhinos. These two- or four-hour tours bring passengers up close to water holes where buffalo roam, waterbuck wade and antelope play as they might in the wild. So relax as the safari begins, but keep your finger on the camera, because there’s no telling what will come into view on this wild ride.
IF YOU GO
ADDRESS: 15500 San Pasqual Valley Road, Escondido
GENERAL ADMISSION: $28.50; children ages 7-11, $17.50. Seniors and military personnel are eligible for a 10 percent discount. Parking: $8
PHOTO SAFARI: $90 to $130 (ages 8 and up)
RESERVATIONS: (619) 718-3000
INFORMATION: (760) 747-8702
WEB SITE: www.sandiegozoo.org/wap/
http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister...le_1037134.php
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