Out Of Africa Wildlife Park in Camp Verde, Arizona!

 

I absolutely love animals & always enjoy visiting different animal spots. On one of the days of our recent weekend trip up north, we stopped by Out Of Africa Wildlife Park in Camp Verde, Arizona. I actually went to this zoo several times as a child when it was located near Fountain Hills, but they moved everything up north further to Camp Verde. Which actually works out better for the animals, as it is typically a bit cooler for them there than the previous location. While it was 85+ degrees down where we live, it was a nice cool 68 degrees with some wind on the day we visited. 

The biggest part of this wildlife park that I love is how huge the enclosures are for all of the animals. You'll get lucky and a lot of the animals will be in their favorite spots to lounge within view, and others will be kind of like a safari hunt where you'll need to look for them through out the enclosure. This sanctuary was originally started in 1988 by husband and wife Dean & Prayeri Harrison and their love of animals shows through out the park. Sadly Dean has passed away, but Prayeri is still a huge part of every day operations at the park! In fact she was at the park the day we were there greeting guests, helping answer questions and talk to everyone while they waited in line to buy tickets. Tickets might seem a bit pricey compared to other zoos/animal parks as they are almost $50 per adult, however this is a privately owned park and they have a lot of big cats, bears, etc to provide food to, so that is where the money goes along with the typical cost of operations. 

Another big plus about this wildlife park is that the safari ride is included in admission! A lot of other zoos we've been to charge extra for a safari tour, use of shuttles, etc. When you are on the safari you will be right up close to Zebras, Giraffes, and more. If you are lucky one of the two giraffes will come over and take a treat from your hand, or if you are brave enough to put the food in your mouth, they will give you a big kiss. 

As I mentioned before, the enclosures are quite large which makes the wildlife park a bit spread out. If you'd prefer not to walk the whole thing & want to get to the back section where a lot of the smaller enclosures are (lizards, snakes, birds, etc) there is a free shuttle that will take you back to the main area. You can also stop at one of four shuttle stops to be picked up to go back to the front gates when you area ready to head home. 

Out Of Africa has a large amount of big cats, you'll see quite a few lions, leopards, and wolves. You will also come across bears, porcupines, lemurs and more. All the staff are very knowledgeable about the animals & are happy to talk about them or answer any questions you have. They also feature a tiger splash show,  where you'll be able to see some of the trainers interreacting with one of their tigers playing with toys and jumping into a giant pool. Plus for an extra $5 you can feed one of the tigers (safely of course), the tigers looked like they were loving it! You can tell by the healthy coat and of course the little extra pouch under their bellies that they are well fed and well taken care of. All of the animals seemed content and happy. It was also nice to see that aside from one or two of the animals, that all of the enclosures had more than one in it which is great for socializing. 

They have extras you can add onto your experience as well, such as an extra tour, ziplining over the park, and animal encounters. This wildlife park is in Arizona & like much of the desert there isn't a ton of shade so remember to bring your sunscreen + a hat and possibly an umbrella along with water of course. All of the pathways are dirt and a bit rocky, some strollers will have no issue getting around but other strollers with the tiny wheels may have issues getting through the park. Wheelchair wise, I would say it is easier if you have an electric scooter vs a regular wheelchair. 

Stop by my Instagram or Tiktok page to see a short compilation of clips I took of the animals during our visit. 

🌵 If you live in Arizona check out the "Things to do in Arizona" section of my blog to find entertainment, restaurants, vacation spots & more. (Click on the name or locate it on the right-hand side of my page).

🟊 This is not a sponsored post, we paid for this ourselves. I just enjoy sharing awesome spots with my readers. 

San Simeon Elephant Seal Viewing Area - Free to visit!

 

If you happen to be driving along Highway 1 in California or end up in the San Simeon area whether to visit Hearst Castle, or just simply driving by to get to one of the towns along the coast there is a Elephant seal viewing area which is free to visit. While the Elephant seals may not be on the beach the entire year, it is worth stopping to check especially if it is during breeding/birthing season. We were lucky & visited during the winter which is one of the times they can be found. 

There is actually a pretty decent sized parking area that is easy to access & everything is marked clearly. When were arrived there were two state park workers who had a table set up, answering questions and talking about Elephant seals. You won't be able to go down on the beach next to the Elephant seals of course, for their protection and yours, but you'll still be able to see them fairly close. 

In three separate spots you can see the Elephant seals just over the railing lined up along the beach. When we stopped by a few of them were quite loud, a few were fighting and many were sleeping. There were even some sleeping babies which was adorable to see! The weather was perfect on the day we visited, so we had some great views. It was well worth the stop. 

Not far from the main Elephant viewing area is the Friends of the Elephant seal visitor center which offers a boardwalk and more viewing spots, along with a souvenir shop. The visitor center is located at 250 San Simeon Ave Suite 5A San Simeon, California 93452 and the viewing area we visited is just south of that right off of the highway. 

If you are planning a trip to California & are looking for other activities to do feel free to type in "Things to do in California" in the search bar of my blog so you can find some other great activities in California. You can also click the "Things to do in California" link located on the right hand side of my blog/in this post. 

Los Angeles Zoo Trip!

 

I've always loved animals since I was small, so it is always exciting getting the chance to visit a new zoo, farm or animal sanctuary & it is something my family loves doing as well. We recently went on vacation to California to visit Universal and on the way back home we decided to stop & check out the Los Angeles Zoo before leaving Los Angeles. When we first arrived, there was a small market popping up in the parking lot of the zoo, there were vendors selling food along with some things like stuffed animals and hats. It was neat to see as our zoos do not do that, it is also a good way to get some of the tourists to stop and buy things.

We arrived just before they opened & it was crazy to see just how many people were already in line to get into the zoo. Thankfully it didn't take long to purchase tickets & get into the gates, once you are in the actual zoo there is plenty of space, so it doesn't feel overly crowded. The only spot that was slightly backed up with traffic was the reptile house just because it is indoors & there is only so much space. I feel like the current layout of the zoo had a lot of back tracking to get around from one section to another plus there was a bit of construction going on that added to it, so be prepared for a lot of walking when you visit. If you want a cheap souvenir that is also functional, I highly suggest stopping by one of their concessions stands & buying a refillable souvenir cup. We paid $8.99 for a cup that came with cheap refills, if I remember correctly the refills were a dollar or two and the cup itself is a nice thick plastic that comes with a lid and reusable straw. 

The animal enclosures themselves we enjoyed viewing, some of the enclosures were massive such as the gorilla area which had four different areas to view the gorillas from. They had a few animals on display that we do not have at our local zoo, so that was exciting. I have never seen an echidna so close before, it was adorable watching their little waddling bodies moving around the enclosure alongside some adorable wallabies. I love their small bird aviary, the waterfall they built in it was lovely to watch and hear. 

I think they did a fantastic job at constructing the enclosures to where the animals have plenty of shelter & areas, they can feel more secluded while still remaining visible to the public. I especially liked how they did the gorilla & chimpanzee enclosures. The L.A Zoo isn't nearly as big as the public zoo we have here, but it was still nice to visit with my family. If you are in the area, it makes a great short stop if you are looking for extra activities to do. We visited the day after Thanksgiving, so we were able to see some of the cool animal sculptures they had up for their nighttime zoolights.

Want a freebie for yourself or your kids? On your way into the zoo look for a small stand that has small blue booklets. After grabbing one you will look for several stands throughout the park that have clues of which circles to scratch off in the booklet you picked up. Once the book is finished & you are ready to leave stop by one either the blue umbrella next to customer service or the giftshop on the left-hand side (as you are looking at the zoo entrance). An employee will verify that your booklet is complete & give you a freebie, we received a cute pair of mini binoculars & yes, they actually work. This is a great way to keep small kids entertained & engaged while exploring the zoo.

If you are planning a trip to southern California & are looking for other activities to do feel free to type in "Things to do in California" in the search bar of my blog so you can find some other great activities in California. This was not a sponsored review, we paid to get into the zoo ourselves. I enjoy being able to share spots like this with my readers who may not be able to visit in person but are still interested in learning more about these spots, or for anyone planning vacations in the area. 

🌵 If you live in Arizona check out the "Things to do in Arizona" (Click or locate it on the right-hand side of my page) section of my blog to find entertainment, restaurants, vacation spots & more. 

A must see destination in Arizona, the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum!

I recently found my favorite museum that I've ever visited & I wish I lived closer so I could buy a yearly membership to it because I would visit all the time. My family & I wanted to go on a small vacation for the holidays instead of doing a bunch of gifts so I planned a mini vacation to a city in our state that had several attractions we'd never been to before, one of those spots is the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. It is so much more than just a museum it is a 98-acre zoo, aquarium, botanical garden, natural history museum & art gallery. It is located at 2021 N Kinney Rd Tucson, AZ 85743.

It is a popular tourist type spot so I highly recommend getting there early to get a parking spot closer to the entrance, or if you don't mind a short hike there are parking lots a bit further back. We arrived shortly after they opened & the parking lot was already pretty full with a decent line at the ticket window. The line moved quickly & the staff were all very friendly, the place is big enough that even with the number of people visiting you didn't feel crowded or overwhelmed which is nice. It also helps in spots like this when everyone takes their turn to look at exhibits, etc. without cutting in front of others so that made everything run smoothly. The website states it takes about 2-3 hours to see everything & it is quite true, depending on how much time you spend at each stop you might be there for even longer. A large majority of the museum is outdoors so if you aren't a fan of the heat the best time to visit is in the winter/spring months to avoid the Arizona summer heat. We visited on a beautiful slightly cloudy winter morning & the weather was perfect for visiting. 

The aquarium didn't open for another ten minutes after we arrived so our first stop was to the reptile house where we were able to see a large assortment of snakes, scorpions, frog/toads and more. We even had a chance to see one of the staff members feeding the toads which is always neat. My favorite enclosure in the reptile house were the walking sticks (or stick bugs), I haven't seen one out in the wild since I was a kid & I love how they look so getting to see a bunch of them up close was fantastic. After exiting we went straight for the aquarium & got lucky because the only other person in it was a staff member doing a bit of maintenance on one of the tanks so we had the whole place to ourselves. There was an assortment of fish both native to Arizona & non-native species such as seahorses to watch swim. No matter what aquarium I visit, I always enjoy spending a few minutes in front of the seahorses, it is so cute to watch them float around & grab onto the seaweed/plants with their tails. 

Shortly after we left the aquarium it was about time for the birds of prey show they host almost daily, but we decided to use that time to check out a few of the other exhibits since could see that 90% of the visitors there that day were headed to the show. We walked around the cactus botanical garden a little bit & I snapped some photos of the wild birds along with the cactus on display. They have multiple gardens around the museum, you can grab a map before heading into the museum that will show you where everything is & label it so you know where you are. Next I wanted to visit the hummingbird aviary, you actually get to go inside & be in an indoor garden with the hummingbirds flying right next to your head. I've been in bird aviaries before, none of which have had hummingbirds and I love them so I was overly excited. We spent quite a bit of time inside of it watching the hummingbirds, relaxing on the benches talking a little & of course I was snapping photos the whole time. 

Right next to the hummingbird aviary is an art galley, the art work was gorgeous & most of it featured native wildlife or scenery and everything is available for purchase. There was also a small section with trinkets like postcards, 3D printed items & more. The restaurant they had there smelled amazing, so if you get hungry while there stop in for a bite to eat or visit their café for a snack + coffee. They have an underground animal area where you actually head underground to check out a few small enclosures to see critters that you don't typically get to see. Then we explored a bit more of the gardens & went to the bird aviary that has bigger birds such as cardinals, quail & more which of course I loved and we spent time at some of the benches just watching the different birds. 

In total you will go on a hike that is about two miles long, while viewing wildlife habitats set up along the way with animals such as javelina, bobcats, bears, wolves and more. They also have another underground section that takes you into a cave area & a mine where they have minerals on display. Just writing about the Sonora desert museum makes me want to go back again! There was so much to do & so much to see, it was quite the adventure. If we lived closer I would get a membership as mentioned, because it would be a great place to go for a mini hike for exercise while getting to see some neat stuff. They had some other great things to do, but if I talk about it anymore this post is going to be gigantic so if you are ever in the area you need to check this place out & enjoy it for yourself, you won't regret it. Admission is $29.95 per adult & $19.95 for kids - If you live in AZ & are a bit short on cash but still want to visit this museum they are part of the Culture Pass program through the Arizona public library system, you can visit your local libraries website to see which location has a culture pass for this zoo - the library allows you to "check out" 2 passes per family per month through their program (1 pass at a time) for free & each pass gets you two free admissions into where ever the pass is for. 

If you are looking for more adventures in Tucson type in "Things to do in Tucson" or "Things to do in Arizona" in the search bar of my blog, I have several more fantastic animal attractions and more in Tucson to share with you & when all done within a few days it makes for a action packed vacation. 

Which part of this museum do you think you would be most interested in? What would you want to see first? 

**This is not a sponsored post, my family & I decided to visit the museum while we were in the area and paid to visit the museum. I enjoy sharing some of the fun places we've been & things we've seen with my readers so they can enjoy it too if they get a chance.**