We were given media passes in order to share our review with you. All opinions are our own. I love traveling and getting to know all of the amazing places we have in our country. One of the places I have wanted to visit, for as long as I can remember, is the Grand Canyon. We were offered an opportunity to stay at the Thousand Trails Verde Valley RV Resort and so I took it and we started looking for fun things to do in the area. The RV Park is located close to Cottonwood, AZ, so that is where we started. One of the first things that came up on the list is the Out of Africa Wildlife Park.
I knew immediately that my family would love this. We love animals – and being able to spend that day with exotic animals from Africa and other countries would be a day well spent. We made plans to visit and the kids couldn’t wait to go.
We arrived early (about 9:45). The parking lot is big and fills up quickly, so come early if you can. We got our tickets and the first thing we wanted to do was explore The Serengeti on the African Bush Safari. I had read a little about this – but we weren’t sure what to expect. We were blown away by how fun this was!
The Giraffes were our favorite part. You get a piece of celery when you load and then the bus stops so you get the chance to feed the Giraffe a piece of celery. You can hold it out in your hand – or hold it with your teeth and the Giraffe will grab it out of your mouth and give you a nice “kiss” in the process. Some were brave enough to do that, but most just held it out in their hands.
The rest of the Safari is fun educational. The zebras are so funny, and the Ostrich dance was something my kids still talk about. There is so much to see on this – and your kids will love it too. After the Safari, we took the trolly up to the walk-through part of the park. You can also walk up this – it is about a half-mile hike up to the top. We rode the trolly up and then walked back down at the end. The white Rhino, Giraffes, Zebras and other animals are on the way, but you can easily walk to them from the bottom. I would recommend taking the trolly up and back.
Once we were up at the top (we got off at Stop 2) we walked around and looked at all of the animals. The White Bangle Tiger, Chalet, and the Lion were fun to see together. They were born on the same day and raised together and have shared a cage for all of that time – which has been about 10 years. They are both beautiful. We got some great candid shots of the animals before they headed to the fence to get treats from a tour safari that was passing by.
We also loved the two Hyenas. Two of my kids had bright pink shirts on, and they must really have liked that color because the hyenas followed the girls as we walked around and even started laughing at them. That was an experience that my kids will not forget.
We were able to see the Creature Feature Show – and the kids enjoyed learning about new animals, and being able to “pet” them. The different animals and reptiles were all fun to meet and learn more about during this presentation. During the show, you will experience an interactive animal encounter that will introduce you to some of their beloved and popular animal stars ranging from furry, to feathered, to scaly. Learn fun facts and amazing animal behavior on a wide range of creatures while gaining an appreciation for the wonderment of these animals. You also get to pet most of them.
We also were able to watch the Tiger Splash Show. This was SO FUN! The Tigers are beautiful brothers, Journey and Gabriel, who love to play and have fun in the water. Journey was very playful and showed off a lot for us and the crew working with them was funny and knowledgeable about their job. Gabriele was also fun to watch and both Tigers had a lot of fun in the water. The show starts at 1:15 p.m. daily. It is recommended you arrive at the park 30 minutes before any show. And it is included with general admission. You can pay a small fee at the end and Feed-A-Tiger.
There is so much to see there and we were able to get most of it in during our visit. Other activities you can participate in to make your experience even more spectacular is the Zipline, Authentic Unimog Adventure Tour (This is an authentic African photo safari with expert park guides narrating throughout your Serengeti tour, which includes a trip through the park preserve. You can expect a personal encounter with a giraffe, zebra, ostrich, and more. We provide treats so that you can feed the animals and maybe receive a gentle kiss from a giraffe.), Sloth Encounter, and even a VIP behind the scenes tour. You can learn about all of these on the Out of Africa website here.
Take advantage of the opportunities here and have a great time. There is so much to do and the animals are beautiful and well taken care of. We had so much fun on our visit and will come back when we are in the area again. Learn more about the Out of Africa Wildlife Park on:
WEBSITE | http://outofafricapark.com
FACEBOOK | https://www.facebook.com/OutOfAfricaPark
TWITTER | https://twitter.com/OutofAfricaPark
INSTAGRAM | https://instagram.com/outofafricapark
this looks like alot of fun!