Babymoon v. 2.0 ~ San Diego March 29th ~ San Diego Safari Park

The Safari Park is located about 30 minutes north of San Diego in Escondido and is an extension of the San Diego Zoo.  The Safari Park started as a research facility and eventually also turned into a tourist attraction.  we had been to the zoo before and kinda knew how we would map out our day but the Safari Park was new to both of us.  No matter how much research I had done we were still in a new place.  One thing I had read was as soon as you entered the park is to walk to the other end and take the free tram that takes you off the map and let you see the free grazing large animals of Africa.

The tram ride took about 30+ minutes and was a great way to see the large animals.  Most of these animals could only be seen by tram and are not on display in the main part of the Safari Park.  After the tram ride we walked around and saw a bunch of different plants and animals from Africa.

In the top collage is a picture of the Safari Park sign, when we drove into the park the sign only had the "k".  By the time we left the whole sign was complete.  The Safari Park was going through changing its from from "Wild Animal Park" to Safari park.  After our "tour of Africa" we went back to the elevators that get us back to the main level of the Safari Park, otherwise we would be hiking up a steep hill for a long distance.  At the top of the elevators was a gift shop, snack bar and patio tables.  We found a good table that had a great view of the tram route and animals.

After lunch we wondered through the Gorilla Forrest and was able to see some silver backed gorillas enjoying an afternoon snack.  Then we wondered to the other side of the park toward the elephants.  We didn't realize how far the walk would be or that we would again have to hike up a hill to get there.  Once we got there the view was amazing and so many elephants were out.  Some were drinking water, some were rolling in the mud, and others were wondering around the very large enclosure.  Abi loved all the baby elephants, they were so cute. 

All 3 of us were very tired after all the walking and hiking around the Safari Park, our goal was to find a nice place to rest in hopes that Abi would fall asleep in the stroller on our way.  Our wish came true, it didn't take Abi long to pass out and she seemed to be in a deep sleep.  Josh and I found a great sitting area in the shade close to a snack bar with cushioned patio chairs.  It was wonderful!  We had super comfortable benches and a coffee table to rest our feet on.  Abi slept for over an hour, Josh and I enjoyed our snacks and looking through the pictures we had taken that day.

After relaxing we walked around and saw a few more animals, rode the carousel and made our way out of the park.  We really enjoyed the Safari Park and loved that is was different than the zoo.  It was not nearly as busy and nice to see the large enclosures for the grazing animals, a bit closer to the wild.   Needles to say we were very tired and hungry we had dinner at a local Mexican place that we would always go to in high school and college when in San Diego for OGN.  After dinner we went to Sunset Cliffs Park to watch and take pictures of the Sunset.