It was our first time in a KOA Kabin and our first visit to a KOA. The campground was really nice. The bathrooms and shower rooms were very clean and the park staff was extremely nice and helpful. Thanks to the helpful check-in staff that directed us to a nearby Smokey Bones, we had a wonderful dinner before settling in for the night.
One word of warning to anyone spending their first night in one of the Kabins: bring an air mattress... we were glad we did. They do have beds in the kabins, but they are not much more comfortable than sleeping on the ground. Our first night was a little rough, but it was our own fault for being too lazy to go out and get our mattress out of the car after trying to sleep for a few hours. The second night was much more comfortable. We inflated the mattress and put it right on top of the kabin bed and slept like babies all night.
We spent Saturday (April 1st) at Lion Country Safari. It was my first trip there and Tom's first trip in about 30 years.
Lion Country Safari opened in 1967 as the nation's first "cageless zoo". LCS is involved in the captive breeding of a number of threatened or endangered species.
The price of admission during our visit was $20.95 per person (plus $3.50 parking fee). For staying at the KOA we each received a $3.00 discount. Still a bit pricey but we knew the price of admission before arriving so we knew what to expect. When you pay your admission you are given a choice of either CD or tape to provide narration throughout your trip. Not having a CD player in the car we chose the tape, which was defective. After listening to about 5 minutes of audio loop through 3 times, trying to fast-forward the tape to a different section and again hearing the same audio we gave up. Our advice is to bring some sort of CD player if you don't already have one in the car.
You start out driving through the safari preserve. Animals are all around you going about their everyday animal business as you drive by. Just remember, they have the right of way... always stop and let them cross.
Our main disappointment in the whole experience is that they now have fences around the actual lion area. So anyone expecting, as we were, to be surrounded by lions during the drive will probably be a little let down. It seems their "cageless zoo" now has at least one really big cage and it just happens to be around their main attraction.
After finishing the safari preserve you come to Safari World, their newest area. It's a walk-through attraction with rides and animal exhibits. The food is really good at the Safari World restaurant. Much better than most "zoo" type food. I wasn't too hungry so I just grabbed a couple corn dogs and fries, but Tom had one of their freshly made Italian subs that looked great.
They have a giraffe feeding station, lots of fish feeding spots, and a petting zoo. We took a really quick ride on the Safari Queen boat. It makes a trip around a couple of islands in Lake Shanalee. Just before we left I stopped by the Carvel ice cream shop for a vanilla cone that really hit the spot.
Before heading back to the campground we took one last drive through the preserve. By this time of the day most of the animals were relaxing in the sun and didn't provide much entertainment. So if you're planning a visit to LCS, take our advice and go as early as possible... gates open at 9:30 am.
For Tom's birthday dinner we went to a nearby restaurant called Boonie's Lounge. After the large Italian sub for lunch, Tom decided to have a light dinner... light meaning the small portion of prime rib and mashed potatoes instead of the large one. I had pork tenderloin and baked potato, and it was delicious. It had this creamy garlic sauce on it that was just great.
After dinner we were both really tired. Still not sure if it was from a busy day out or lack of sleep the night before... either way we turned in early.
I'd say it was a very pleasant trip... except for the whole lion thing.
2 comments:
Sounds like a really great trip! Too bad about the lions. Do you think they were protecting the lions or the people?
I'm not sure. Our main complaint was that we weren't able to get good pictures. If they would make a viewing area and allow you to get out of your car to take pictures it wouldn't be as disappointing. But they still have all of these signs up warning people to "STAY IN YOUR CAR" like the lions are going to climb the fence and eat you or something...
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