Located right off interstate 81 in Natural Bridge the Virginia Safari Park is great fun for all ages. It gives you an unbelievable opportunity to get very close to many types of animals in a more natural setting than your typical zoo. You take your own car and drive through acres of free roaming animals and you are able to feed them from your car.
Last week during Spring Break, Elizabeth and I drove down to the Safari Park with our four kids. Elizabeth packed a great lunch which we sat under their pavilion and ate while being entertained watching other people attempt to drive through first. During weekends there is a huge wagon that you can take the hour ride through on, other times you are on your own.
We laughed ourselves silly and the kids are still talking about how much fun they had. The variety of free roaming animals is incredible. There are ostriches (which I must say terrify me), Watusi cattle, Scottish Highland cattle, water buffalo, bison, zebras, rheas, elk, camels, llama, and so many more. You get buckets of feed as you start your drive. I would ask the attendant to give you a few empty buckets to divide your feed into smaller portions so you don’t loose your whole bucket at once. Notice the bucket stealing camel below.
They have now opened an additional zoo that has a giraffe feeding station, cheetahs, tigers, reptiles, lorikeet feeding, an amazing aviary, and giant tortoises to name a few. This is a definite must do if you are headed down 81. Where else will a camel put his head through the window of your car and let you pet him?
