On Safari

I never tire of California; you can do just about anything here including go on a Safari.  My family and I took a mini vacation to Safari West located in Santa Rosa, CA.  It's not a zoo but a wild life preserve that covers 400 acres of land with more that 400 exotic animals.  Below are a few pictures from our adventures.

Pictured above is the jeep we rode in for our tour.  We even got to sit on the top bench  part of the time.

I was about seven feet away from this giraffe when I took the photo.  There were no fences between us.  We were sitting on the top bench so I was practically eye level with him.  The giraffes were one of my favorite parts of the tour.  They have the sweetest eyes.

 

That bar on the right hand side of the picture is part of the jeep.  That's how close we were to these zebras during the tour. 

Another animal we saw on the tour. At the moment, the species name escapes me.  Any zoologists out there who want to help me out?   Update - Above is a picture of a Bongo from the antelope species.  Thanks Corvus!

The African tent we stayed in. The walls are canvas but as you can see there are wood floors.  There's also a standard bathroom with plumbing (thank goodness).  I kind of felt like I was staying overnight at the zoo in this tent. It was even noisy like a zoo at night which is part of the fun.  Some of the tents overlooked the giraffes. 

Here's the inside of our tent.  That's my husband sitting on the bed reading.  I thought the tents were very charming with all the nature details.

Speaking of details, here's a picture of the bathroom vanity.  I'm told that the owner (Peter Lang) of Safari West makes a lot of the wood furniture for the tents. 

I wish I could share all my photos with you but I suspect I've already gone a little overboard.