05/31/2026
Jack & I recently spent 7 magical hours exploring the wonderful San Diego Zoo Safari Park. It felt like we had just taken a trip to Africa (but much more easily, with only a 35-minute drive from my San Diego home!)
The Safari Park is an expansive 1,800-acre wildlife preserve in Escondido, California, featuring over 3,000 animals across more than 300 species. The park (focused on wildlife conservation since 1972) offers highly immersive, open-space habitats where animals roam in large, mixed-species herds.
Park admission includes The Africa Tram (25 minutes) which takes you through sprawling, naturalistic savanna habitats where you can view rhinos, giraffes, and antelope up close. We also enjoyed a 90 minute “Deluxe Wildlife Safari” (an extra fee) in a smaller open air vehicle with an excellent guide venturing further afield into both African and Asian habitats.
Jack had his SLR camera and took some amazing photos (coming soon on IG - JackDaultonPhoto). I just snapped pics with my iPhone but the enclosed photos will give you a sense of some of the beautiful animals we saw. However, the first featured photo is Jack’s – it’s a proud Momma Cheetah with her four new 4-month old cubs (with 3 of them visible)
Then the other photos (all mine) in order – Tiger Trail entrance, Sumatran Tiger, Red River Hog, Western Gorilla, Southern White Rhino, Maasai Giraffe, and a Kangaroo. Plus a pic of our safari vehicle & guide Dani and a map of the Safari Park. I didn’t take any photos from the new cool Elephant Valley habitat which just opened in March.
In San Diego, we are truly blessed with the excellent San Diego Zoo and this Safari Park – dazzling locals and visitors for decades. Not to mention they’re doing amazing wildlife conservation work with partnerships around the world. Don’t miss the Zoo & Safari Park when visiting San Diego and Southern California!
