If you have some time to spare and your travels take you near Natural Bridge, Virginia then I highly suggest a stop at The Virginia Safari Park (not associated with Natural Bridge Zoo). Our family loves finding new experiences as we’re traveling through different states and that’s just what we found during our time spent here. Our adventure was truly a comedy of errors, but learn from our mistakes and you’re sure to have an amazing visit!
Drive-Thru Safari
This park offers a three mile (180 acre) drive-thru animal encounter that is touted as “Virginia’s only drive-thru safari”. We were intrigued as we had never driven through one of these encounters before. We proceeded to purchase a paper bucket of animal feed for each of us. Our first mistake was not asking for an empty bucket to put extra feed in so that our younger children didn’t start off holding so much. Our experience in parenting and with our children should have told us from the beginning that this was a mistake, but alas hindsight is 20/20.
Before entering the park, we switched around our seating arrangement in our minivan. This allowed our ten year old to sit in the front while I helped his brothers in the middle seats. If you have too many people in your vehicle and not enough windows can be put down (vans don’t typically have windows that go down in the third row), you can go through the safari as many times as you like so everyone gets an opportunity to feed the animals.
Upon entering the safari, much to our surprise, the animals swarmed the car. I wasn’t expecting them to be so eager as we weren’t entering early in the day. We were now stuck since we were completely surrounded. This explained why the people in the car next to us were laughing as they passed by, we had just freed them and they knew what we were going to experience now. This also explained why there was more than one entrance, you need another car to enter the safari and distract enough animals to be able to proceed.
Our second mistake was starting with all of our windows down. The children were so shocked by the amount of heads trying to get in our vehicle that our youngest dropped his full bucket on the floor. This brings us back to mistake number one as well. I wish we had started with just the front windows down and let the kids get used to the idea of what was going to take place. I’m not sure why, but in my mind I also pictured a peaceful drive and slowly feeding different animals. The kids were unsure of this whole adventure initially, but warmed up to the experience.
When we were finally able to escape our animal entrapment, we slowly moved along and fed lots of different animals. The kids liked the birds the best! The ostrich and emu calmly pecked at some food, the other animals comically stuck their heads in and wildly ate sending feed everywhere. Some would even try to steal the whole bucket, one succeeded! The small deer and bison were also a high point. The bison were really cool and much to our youngest’s delight, the small deer were too little to reach the windows and he could drop food to them.
When we were about three quarters of the way through, we ran out of feed and put our windows up. The zebras then rubbed their noses on the windows leaving a trail of slime. This led to many giggles and squeals of delight from our children. When we were finished, we parked our vehicle in the parking lot and tried to clean up a bit of the mess. Luckily, we had some disinfectant wipes. There was feed everywhere, dust, animal slime (one lovely llama drooled all over our the buttons in the driver side door).
Overall, we had a great time and laughed so hard we cried! I would recommend this attraction to anyone, but once was enough for us. I have no doubt that there is still animal feed inside our vehicle doors. Maybe we would go again with a few changes, and if we used someone else’s car. 🙂
Village Walk-Thru
When you’re done with the drive-thru park, you can head over to the Safari Village. This is a ten acre walk-thru park with lots of different animals to view. Our boys loved petting the goats, walking through the kangaroo enclosure, feeding the budgies (parakeets), and feeding the giraffes.
We loved all of the different interactions with the animals. Bird seed on a stick can be purchased from a vending machine at the front of the budgie enclosure. We just walked around with a stick in hand and the birds hopped right on. It was a fun and interesting experience for all of us.
If you want to feed the giraffes, make sure you stop at the gift shop near the entrance to purchase romaine lettuce (also comes with a souvenir cup) as there was no place to purchase food near the giraffes location in the park. This was a highlight of our day, at least for me as I love giraffes.
Despite the mishaps and the unpredictability that comes with traveling as a family, these moments of joyful chaos were the ones we’ll treasure the most. Family adventures aren’t always picture-perfect, and that’s okay. In fact, it’s in those silly, unexpected moments that the bonds between us grow stronger. So, if you’re seeking an adventure that promises unforgettable memories and plenty of laughter, Virginia Safari Park should be at the top of your list. Embrace the chaos, relish in the unexpected, and allow yourselves to be swept away by the joy and wonder that only a family travel experience can bring. Happy Travels!
Looking for more ideas for family fun in Virginia? Check out my blog post “Explore Shenandoah Valley on a Budget: Tips for a Wallet-Friendly Adventure“
