Behind the Scenes Tour at AK?

[leighe]

Somewhere I read about a tour at AK that takes you into the medical facilities they use to care for the animals. Does anyone have any info on this? My sister is really considering applying to vet schools when she finishes her undergrad and I think this is something she'd really enjoy.

Any ideas or reviews? Oh - are there lots of birds on this tour? I have such a phobia and AK is kind of uncomfortable for me anyway. Silly, I know.

 

[dawnsb]

My husband and I took this tour in June 2002. We went into the medical facility at the very end, and it was for only about 10 minutes. There was nothing 'medical' going on at the time.

Go to www.allearsnet.com for reviews of the tour. We really enjoyed it, and it lasted about an hour longer than stated.

We didn't see any birds on our tour - a rino, an elephant and a giraffe.

Hope this helps,
Dawn

 

[diswedwish]

The name of the tour is Backstage Safari, you can find info. here if you search and there are some good reviews on allearsnet.com.

We took the tour this past Jan. and really enjoyed it. Like the last poster said, we didn't get to see any medical procedures being done, and no birds

We learned a lot and out of the 2 tours we've taken so far, this was our favorite.

HTH

 

[ironz]

You can also get a "free" look at the medical facilities if you take the train over to Conservation Station (or whatever it's called these days). It's limited, but you may be able to talk to some CMs over there and learn a lot.

 

[TammiMcMan]

DH and I took this tour last January and I thought it was fabulous. Touring the backstage medical area of Conservation Station is only a small part though. You'll also get to meet one or two of the park animals close up, visit the food preparation area and get a private ride on the Kilimanjaro Safari. If there happens to be a procedure going on, then you would get to view it. We also only got to see the lab, but our tour guide mentioned that a group he had on a previous day got to see a fish being operated on. Now that would have been something. We didn't see any birds, but we did get to touch an alligator.

As Ironz mentioned, you can take the train over to Conservation Station and see the medical facilities. I know they have it listed somewhere what procedures are scheduled. Does anyone know if it's only in the daily park entertainment guide? That might work out and be less stressful for you. Also, for what it's worth, there were a few people in our group that were solo. Their families didn't share the same passion they had for animals. The tour ends at about noon time at the Tusker House restaurant, which makes for a good meeting place.

Tammi