My dream of a Tanzanian or South African vacation turns nightmarish when I consider the length and cost of flights. Cheap airfare from San Francisco starts at $1400+ and quickly works its way to several thousand dollars. Times that by two, since Bob plans to join me, and the choice quickly comes down to a $25,000 vacation or a new car. This year we are opting for the car.
I was, therefore, delighted to stumble onto one of Northern California’s best kept secrets: Safari West, a 400-acre wildlife preserve nestled in the mountains near the city limits of Santa Rosa – less than a two-hour drive from our Dublin condo. Peter and Nancy Lang decided this area of cool, wet winters and warm, mostly dry summers was the perfect place to create an exotic experience to enthrall and educate you about some very interesting animals.
Zebra, giraffe, cheetah, monkeys, rhino, ostrich, and more than a hundred other species of mammals, birds and reptiles live at Safari West, but this is not some hybrid-version of a petting zoo with caged, over-the-hill animals. You do not touch, feed or harass these wild inhabitants. This is their home and you are the guest.
Ring-tailed Lemur
Most of the animals seemed well-suited to their environment, but I wished the cheetah had more space.
Shall we dance?
We’ve got company
And speaking of being a guest, plan to spend at least a night in one of the thirty authentic canvas safari tents imported from South Africa. No roughing-it involved. Safari West describes itself as a “luxury tented resort located in the heart of California Wine Country.” I wouldn’t argue with that characterization. It offers spacious, hardwood-floored tents with king size beds, Velcro-flapped windows, and ensuite baths with hot running water. You’ll also enjoy a private balcony from which to overlook the preserve.
Not exactly “roughing it.”
Deck with a view.
Before the sun came out, but at least the rain had stopped.
The rates may seem pricey (September to December the nightly tent rate is $200-290). A three-hour safari through the preserve is $78 per person ($10 less per person if you are staying overnight). When you consider the cost of feeding and caring for the animals, or compare it to a flight to the African Serengeti, it becomes a steal.
I came home invigorated by this unique experience, but I do offer a few words of caution. You are required to reserve in advance and if the weather turns foul, you will traipse through the grounds with an umbrella and rain coat. You do not reschedule. We chose mid-December thinking it would be a pleasant retreat from holiday chaos. It would have been, if we hadn’t been caught in torrential rains.
We had scheduled a 10:00 a.m. tram ride, and afterwards, as we sloshed to our tent, I envisioned the amazing experience this could be, but knew that the rain dampened more than the park. On the positive side, we were in Wine Country and an afternoon trip to St. Francis Winery helped warm our chilled spirits. After an early dinner we arrived back to our tent by 7:00. It had been dark for two hours. We crawled into bed and read for the rest of the evening. The camp provided little evening excitement. There is no internet service, no TV, and most cell phones don’t work.
The temperature hovered in the low forties, but the miserable rain made if feel even colder. The tent had space heaters (bring slippers if you go during cool weather because the attached bathrooms are NOT heated), and we turned on the electric blanket. We were toasty warm, but I couldn’t help but think I could be doing this at home.
Our trip was meant to scope out a place for a future family trip for fifteen that would include two small rambunctious boys. By morning I had pretty much dismissed the idea of a family getaway to Safari West. Then I arose to sunshine over the small lake outside our tent and my opinion took a one-eighty.
The place felt completely different as we wandered at our leisure, communed with nature and talked to the animals. My advice for your visit: Choose a month with long daylight hours, and warm (not hot) days. I will definitely go again and am sure that even our 2 and 3-year-old grandsons will love the adventure if we schedule it in June or some other weather-friendly month.
Checkout through the gift shop and peruse the merchandise.
What small child wouldn’t love one of these chairs?
Julie Albrecht Royce, Travel Adventures Editor, is the author of Traveling Michigan's Sunset Coast and Traveling Michigan's Thumb, both published by Thunder Bay Press. She writes a monthly column for Wandering Educators.
On her blog, Julie is currently writing two weekly series.
On Mondays, she posts in her series entitled, "Ugly Shoes and Boomer Do Europe."
This series captures the humor and adventure of her rail trip from
Amsterdam to Budapest and then return river cruise back to Amsterdam.
On Thursdays, Julie writes about PILZ, the legal thriller novel she has written.
Log on to www.jkroyce.com/blog to follow along.
All photos courtesy and copyright Julie and Bob Royce