Out of Africa Wildlife Park

Ben and I have been wanting to make a trip to Camp Verde for a while to go to Out of Africa Wildlife Park. Well, one night at work, of my coworkers informed me that for your birthday month you get to go for just $10. Ben had a three day weekend the end of April so we decided to plan a trip to the Wildlife park and utilize Ben and I's birthday discount.

We originally were going to head down Friday night and spend a night in Camp Verde. However, it ended up working better for us to drive down and back in the same day. We woke up about 6AM, got ready quickly, and drove the three hours to Camp Verde. The girls were so good and Bridget went back to sleep for half the drive.

When we arrived we hopped onto the Safari tour. It took us into a large enclosure with water buffalo, ostriches, zebras, giraffes, and more. We were given some leaves to feed the giraffes. They told us that if we put the leaves in our mouths the giraffes would eat the leaves right from our mouth. We would also get a great big kiss from the giraffe as it was getting the leaves. Ben said he was going to try it. I was undecided. However, the giraffes were not interested in us at all and our tour guide could not get them to come over. So unfortunately, no giraffe kisses for us.

After our safari ride we walked around the park. The enclosures were huge so it was hard to see some of the animals. However, their were a few animals that were just chilling right by the fence. A Grizzly Bear that looked as if he was smiling at the crowd. He seemed to just enjoy people watching. The tigers were also neat.  One was chuffing at us. Ben decided to chuff back and he gave Ben a good roar to say knock it off. I told Ben to knock it off as well. I felt a little nervous that the only thing separating us from this huge tiger was a chain linked fence. They had a decent variety of animals. But, they had a tons of tigers, lions, and snakes.

The best part of this safari park were all the shows. We got to go to a giant snake show and we all got to pet a snake. It felt so awesome. With the different shows we went to we also got to pet a giant lizard, a hedgehog, and watch some juvenile lion cubs play.

The highlight of our day was the Tiger Splash show. What they did was they had an enclosure with a pool and six zookeepers inside. They then opened up a gate and let a tiger join them inside the enclosure. The zoo keepers would have a toy such as a ball or large inflatable pool toy and get the tigers interested in the toy, have the tiger start chasing them and the toy and then they would jump into the pool and have the tiger jump in after and pounce on the toy. They also had this fire hose that they would tie a piece of meat onto the end and get the tigers to chase it. The zookeeper would throw the hose up into the air near the chain linked fence to get the tigers to jump up into the air and push off the chain linked fence. It was seriously one of the most amazing shows that I have ever watched at a zoo/wildlife park. The owner of the park narrated the show for us. He talked about how they were able to get in and play with the tigers without the tigers attacking them. He told us that the relationship they have built with the tigers is all based on play. They are more fun than the food so the tigers choose to let them live. After the show Ben told me that he would love to have a job like that! I am just grateful that we do not live close to this wildlife park! After watching the show Bridget and Jocelyn got to feed a tiger.

Jocelyn's favorite part was petting the snake and Bridget's favorite was watching the tigers. So, they each picked out a toy at the gift shop to help remember their favorite moment. We had a wonderful time!