Out of Africa in Arizona

Morning dawned bright and clear and cool, just like every morning so far. After a quick breakfast I headed out to the rental to head south to Camp Verde and the Out of Africa Wildlife Park.

I found the park without a hitch. In fact, I was so early that the gates hadn’t even opened. I wanted to get there early because most animals are more active in the morning before the heat of the day. I was the first car in line at the gate and soon more cars began to line up behind me. After waiting for about ½ hour, a truck pulled up on the other side of the gate and the driver got out, came through a door to the side of the gate and told us all they would be opening shortly. Then he pointed out some of the animals that we could just see from here in the distance. I remembered the binoculars this time and what a difference they made.
About 15 minutes later the gates swung open and we drove down the dirt road to the dirt parking lot. I assume they were setting the stage.

The Out Of Africa Wildlife Park is 104 acres where visitors can interact with 400 animals from around the world…or at least that’s what the brochure says. After you purchase your ticket you are directed to wait for the Serengeti Safari where you will have a chance to see animals like giraffe, zebra, and wildebeest, the non-lethal animals right outside your open windows.

The bus that lumbered up looked like it was right out of Africa! They certainly earn points for ambiance. Our driver was a personable young man from South Africa by the name of Sean. I loved his accent!
He would drive the bus to a huge enclosure with a double set of gates, stop it, get out to open the gates, drive the bus in, get back out to close the gates in back of the bus, open the 2^nd set of gates in front of the bus, drive the bus through those, get back out and close the 2^nd set of gates. This was the procedure whenever we drove into a different enclosure. This arrangement prevented the animals from either escaping or getting animals mixed together which might not be compatible.

As we drove through the enclosure animals came right up to the bus. Sean would stop the bus and feed the animals sweet potatoes so we had plenty of photo ops. Some of the animals even tried to hitch a ride and an amorous giraffe gave sloppy kisses to anyone who would offer her a treat. We also passed other enclosures containing the predators, lions & tigers, but the bears were later (Oh my). The Ostriches were fenced off too due to their penchant for biting and kicking.

I will give the Safari Ride high points. It wasn’t Africa but with the desert climate of Arizona and a little imagination I guess you could say it was the next best thing to being there. It was certainly a lot cheaper than going to Africa!

Back at the start everyone was unloaded off the bus so the next group could go, and I began to explore on foot. Events were announced over the PA and just after I exited the bus they announced “Tiger Splash” at the pool. I’ve seen “tiger Splash” events on television in shows like the Awesome Pawsome, a story of Tigers raised by keepers in Australia, so I was thrilled to get to see this in real life.

The Tigers they worked with here were still cubs, although definitely big enough to cause serious damage if they wanted to. The pool area was surrounded with a large chain link fence to separate the spectators from the keepers and the tigers. The show got underway and everyone was enjoying it when a Dirt Devil sprang up right at the corner of the bleachers. That caught everyone’s attention, even the tigers. It lasted several minutes and was kind of exciting, like being right next to a mini tornado.

When it finally dissipated the keepers picked the show right back up. The tigers jumped in the pool and swam with the keepers and chased the balls the keepers threw just like a pet housecat (on steroids?).
When the show ended, I walked over to the snack bar to get something cold to drink. It wasn’t cool anymore. The sun was fully up and it was hot! While I was sitting at the picnic table a little kid ran by yelling for his mother to look at the tiger. He kept pointing at me. Sometimes I’m not too bright and it took me a few minutes to figure out he was pointing behind me. Sure enough there was a huge tiger right next to me. There was a chain link fence between us for which I was very glad. I think I would have been cat food if we had been in the wild!

Following my “close encounter” I walked the dusty roads around the park to see the rest of the animals that weren’t on the tour. They have a lot of tigers here, and several young grizzly bears. I’ve never been much of a bear fan but these were really cute. I can see where the idea of stuffed teddy bears came from. They also had Hyenas and a very sad looking grey wolf. 2 desert tortoises were making a weird growling or grunting noise. I really don’t know how to describe it and at first I didn’t know where it was coming from. I kept searching what at first appeared to be an empty enclosure but after a few minutes the tortoises moved out from behind a bit of scrub brush and it became clear what the noise was. It must have been mating season. In all the nature shows I’ve seen on PBS, I’d never run across this.

By now the sun was high and it was time to head out. One of the guides told me I would want to stick around for the Predator Feed but that was in the afternoon and I already had tickets for the Verde Canyon Nature Train, so I would have to miss that.

I was satisfied with the morning and looking forward to my afternoon and evening plans.
　
http://www.outofafricapark.com/