A Backyard Safari

Here was the challenge. My wife and I wanted to go on safari and witness wild animals running and playing and doing other things wild animals do, but we weren’t ready to spend several thousand dollars to fly to Kenya or Tanzania. Plus we really wanted to be home in time for dinner.

Believe it or not, we found a solution, and on a recent Saturday morning we headed to the San Diego Wild Animal Park. The Wild Animal Park? A safari? Well, the next best thing: a photo caravan in an open-air safari truck.

Whether you shoot any film or not, it’s a fun, albeit pricey (starting at $96.50 per person), way to encounter and even feed some of the marvelous mammals that have free rein in the vast enclosures.

On past visits to the park, like most guests, I had taken the popular approach and jumped on the Wgasa Bush Line Railway that skirts the five-mile perimeter of the park, offering a scenic overview of much of the area. This time I wanted to be right down there where those beautiful creatures live.

So do others. Linda Dellens, special events supervisor at the Wild Animal Park, says it was requests from visitors about wanting to be closer to the animals that led to the camera tours. Last year, 18,000 people among the park’s 1.5 million guests took these outings. That relatively small number is a real plus, for you’ll never find more than one or two trucks--with a maximum of 12 people--bouncing about one of the four geographic habitats.

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We had three options and elected to take the 13/4-hour Caravan Tour No. 1, which would introduce us to the sights, sounds and, oh yes, smells of East Africa and the Asian Plains.

At noon we gathered with nine other excited visitors under an open-air rotunda and met our friendly and informative guide, Lynn. After an orientation chat, she led us to our safari truck. Cameras in hand, we started down the road for our five-minute drive to East Africa.

We were barely through the gates when we encountered a large herd of Baringo giraffe loping toward our truck.

I’ve seen giraffes many times in traditional zoo settings but it took my breath away witnessing a curious pack of them surrounding the vehicle, just a foot or two from our faces. The cameras started clicking and people were smiling broadly as the 12-to 18-foot giants leaned in even closer for inspection.

While I’d like to think they love humans and that’s why we were getting so much attention, the truth is that we had something they wanted: snacks. As Lynn told us, “We’re like their ice-cream truck.” No doubt. We’d all been given a handful of crunchy biscuits, and the giraffes were more than glad to eat all of them from our outstretched hands.

Here are the two things I found out about a giraffe’s tongue: It’s purple and gooey. Yep, the slobber was in abundance, but none of us minded one bit. How often do you get to feed one of nature’s supreme creatures? I fed Yanamah and Chuku, then I spotted my wife making friends with 8-month-old baby Kizawanda, nicknamed Kizzy.

Our driver started up the truck and we went deeper into the 95-acre East Africa enclosure. From most vantage points I could almost forget this was situated in bustling Southern California. Occasional support vehicles pass by and remind you that you’re actually in a giant animal sanctuary but the illusion of being on safari is complete when you don’t see any buildings or other people--only nature and wildlife.

We passed fringe-eared oryx, Roosevelt’s gazelle and the impressive bongo antelope. I looked up the hill and sitting in the bright green grass were those great migrators, the wildebeests. No need to do any true migrating here as food is always close at hand.

More animals came into view around each turn. Among them were waterbuck, Kenyan impala and Cape buffalo. This isn’t a bad place to be a wild animal at all, I thought, and not too bad being human here either.

Soon it was time to head off into the 65 acres of the Asian Plains. It didn’t look dramatically different from the enclosure we’d just visited, but the animals were certainly different and we witnessed myriad species living much as they would in the wild. Two large wapiti deer were feeding, Chital deer roamed the hills and, before long, a huge Indian rhinoceros rumbled down the dirt path toward us.

It was time for our second feeding--well, the rhino’s feeding, actually. Our part consisted of dropping large chunks of fresh apples into the wide open gullet of this living vacuum cleaner. Unlike the giraffes, we were actually permitted to touch this animal. The gentle giant allowed each who was willing to rub his hard skin. It felt like stroking an old tree stump. I was surprised to learn that the rhino horn was made primarily of compressed hair.

After we all had a feel, and the obligatory photo ops, the big fella stuck his huge head inside the cab to say goodbye to our driver before we moved on.

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Soon after, we cruised by some Armenian mouflon, a type of sheep, and admired a Malayan sambar’s impressive antlers. Then, just before heading back into the general park, we came upon a group of very large and menacing gaurs, wild Indian oxen--one of which eyed us warily, as if to say, “That’s close enough, buddy.”

Heading back to the wilds of Los Angeles, I reflected on the caravan. They’ve done it right here. It’s a safe and unobtrusive tour that respects the animals being cared for and sometimes saved from extinction, and it’s an education and a plain good time as well for us two-legged creatures. I’ll be back for those other tours.

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Photo caravan tours, daily at San Diego Wild Animal Park, 15500 San Pasqual Valley Road, Escondido. (619) 718-3050. Tour No. 1: East Africa and Asian Plains, 13/4 hours, departs at noon, $96.50. Tour No. 2: South Africa and Asian Waterhole, 13/4 hours, departs at 4:30 p.m. through September and changes to a 2 p.m. departure in October, $96.50. Tour No. 3: Combines Nos. 1 and 2, departs at 2:30 p.m. through September and then changes to noon in October, $116.50. Pricing also includes admission to general park. Children under 8 are not permitted on caravan vehicles. Children 8-17 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian and must provide proof of age. Reservations are recommended.