As we entered Lion Country Safari through the big gates, it felt as if we were entering Jurassic Park. You won’t find King Kong or Dinosaurs on this adventure, but you will get an up-close look at ostriches, zebras, wildebeests, rhinos, giraffes, and lions. Lion Country Safari in Loxahatchee is a drive-through safari where animals roam where they want to and cross the road just steps in front of your car. Keep your eyes open because, on this safari, you will see over 1,000+ animals ranging from rhinos to giraffes, plus the world’s largest herd of captive zebras. Are you ready? Make sure you follow the rules and keep your hands and feet inside your vehicle. In fact, it’s a rule to keep those doors and windows closed.

Audio Tour

This safari takes around 45 minutes to an hour and a half depending on how many times you stop to view the animals. There is an audio tour that you can stream as you go, so you’ll learn as much as possible about these incredible animals. You have to stop the tour and start again as you proceed into the next area of the park. Click Here for the Audio Tour Link:

As you drive slowly through the preserve, you go through the seven main naturalistic habitats of Africa, South America, and Asia. Through these lands, you will soon observe large herds of animals all from the air-conditioned comfort of your car. For the safety of the animals that live here, please drive slowly at about 5 miles per hour.

Las Pampas

Grasslands cover about one-quarter of the earth’s landmass. In South America, they call this area Las Pampas. As we drove into the habitat, we saw a mammal that resembles a pig or a small rhino. This is indeed an odd-looking fellow. The Brazilian Tapir is native to the forests of South America. He was out enjoying his breakfast of vegetation and fruit.

The mission at Lion Country Safari is to “be a leader in animal care, conservation, and education, to inspire people through connections with wildlife in a fun, family-friendly environment.” 

Ruana National Park

Ruana National Park is an unspoiled African wilderness known for its variety of wildlife. Lion Country Safari has a recreation of the African wilderness with fascinating animals like the Impala, Water Buffalo, and the Ostrich.

The medium-sized antelope in this section are impala. These graceful animals are so adaptable that they can be found in grassland and light woodland habitats from southern Africa to the northern limits of East Africa.

Kalahari Bushveldt

The Kalahari Bushveldt is a dry plateau roughly 100,000 square miles in size located in southwest Africa.

The animals here will often walk right up to your car or cross the road in front of your vehicle. Consequently, it will give you a chance to get up close and personal with many animals. The ostrich you will see throughout several sections of the safari are easily recognizable and are the world’s largest flightless birds. While the ostriches may frequently begin to cross the road and forget why, please be patient as they’ll often resume their travel shortly. The ostriches are very curious and from time to time will frequently peck on windows and windshields.

The Gorongosa Reserve

The Gorongosa Reserve is one of Africa’s famous wildlife areas. This is the home of the African Lions. Lion Country Safari had to enclose its African lions in a tall chain-link fence to keep rule-breaking visitors from becoming lunch. Too many people were opening their car windows and occasionally even doors, making the threat to safety too great. Lions can sprint from a standing start and cover a hundred yards in a matter of seconds. As peaceful as they may look, they are incredibly powerful.

Lion Country Safari is home to 11 African lions. African lion populations have been severely diminished in the past 25 years, as a result of habitat loss, and poaching.

Gir Forest

The Gir Forest is a well-known national park located in India. It is full of water buffalo, and antelopes. Gir Forest at Lion Country Safari is a great example of the incredible native wildlife also seen on safari.

I started to realize quickly that this is really the best way to see animals. Lion Country Safari is situated on nearly 600 acres, so there is plenty of room for these animals to graze and grow in their natural habitat. Areas in the park are tailored to fit the animal’s needs. The animals are well taken care of and they have acres of land to roam and call home. As a result, Lion Country is ranked as one of the 10 best wildlife parks in the nation.

We drove through the park late morning and many of the animals were eating. They spread food by the roads, so they are literally right next to your car as you pass by.

The Serengeti Plains

This preserve is named for one of the most famous east African wildlife areas. All of a sudden, we were stopped briefly by a herd of African Watusi which is one of the oldest breeds of cattle crossing the road. These are the “Cattle of Kings.”

It can get busy driving through the park but there are two lanes that will allow folks to go around if you want to stop and take pictures or observe.

Hwange National Park

The largest game reserve in western Zimbabwe is Hwange National Park.

This is my favorite area of the safari. It is home to the Rhinos, Chimpanzees, Giraffes, and the largest Zebra herd on record in the country. From time to time, the animals at Lion Country give birth to newborns which only adds to the population. Grass makes up the bulk of a zebra’s menu, but they do eat other types of foods including fruit, buds, roots, herbs, shoots, and shrubs.

The animals you will see here are some of Africa’s most interesting creatures, all roaming freely. The Rhinos and the Zebras share the same territory.

Lion Country Safari is also home to one of the largest herds of giraffes in North America.

Safari World Adventure Park

Once you have completed the drive-through safari, you can either exit the park or go to the walk-through Safari World Adventure Park. This is where you will find a nature walk, boat rides, a splash playground, a petting zoo, and a carousel which you can ride as much as you want for no extra charge.

Feed the Giraffes

One of the best animal encounters is feeding the giraffes. We bought some fresh lettuce greens for $5 so that we could feed these gentle animals. If you hold the leaves out to them, the giraffes will stick out their long tongue and eat the lettuce right out of your hand.

They also have premium animal experiences where you can enjoy a special giraffe or parrot painting experience. The animal artists will actually paint you a masterpiece to take home with you.

Petting Zoo

Get to know the goats and other animals in the petting zoo! In fact, you can purchase food to feed them, or go into the habitat to hang out with and pet them.

Paddleboats

Time to cool off with a boat ride. Paddleboats are a popular way to get out on the water. There is also a water safari boat ride that will take you around Monkey Island which is home to monkeys and chimpanzees. 

Safari Splash

If the boat tours don’t cool you off the Safari Splash Water Playground most certainly will. This is where you can play in water fountains, showers, sprinkles, and overflowing buckets of water.  It’s the perfect place to cool off from the hot Florida sun.

Picnic Areas

There are various picnic areas around the property where you can enjoy lunch. They will allow you to bring coolers into the park. They do have places for you to grab a bite and forage inside the park, but it was nice to have the option of bringing in our own lunch instead. No grilling allowed.

Tips for visiting Lion Country Safari

• If you are planning a trip to Lion Country Safari, know that the animals are most active in rainy weather and first thing in the morning.
• Make sure you follow the rules and keep those windows closed.
• Do you want to awaken to the sounds of Africa? You can hear lions roaring first thing in the morning within a five-mile radius at Lion Country Safari’s KOA campground which is right next door. The campground offers RV sites, tent sites, and cabin lodging.

Lion Country Safari is located at 2003 Lion Country Safari Road, off Southern Blvd in Loxahatchee, Florida.

Can’t Get Enough Animal Encounters?

If you can’t get enough animal encounters in Palm Beach County, check out these other attractions:

1. The Busch Wildlife Sanctuary is dedicated to the protection and conservation of Florida’s wildlife. The mission: To rescue, rehabilitate, release, and educate!
2. Visiting the Palm Beach Zoo is like walking into a lush tropical garden with pathways and exotic animals all around us.

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