Serengeti Safari - Thoughts?

[aussiegrl]

I was thinking of booking this for our upcoming trip to Busch Gardens, but was wondering if it is worth the extra money? Was hoping to get some thoughts from others who have been on it. Thanks!

 

[leiaorgana]

We do it every year it's that good and great value for money for what you get to do! In fact, we're doing it again this July.

The tour basically consists of going around the Serengeti in a roofless truck with your tour leader and you get to see lots of different animals before getting to the giraffes including zebras, rhinos, antelopes etc, which your tour leader will tell you more about as you're going around. There's also a photographer on board with you who takes photos of the animals on your tour, which will be included on the photo cd if you buy the full photo package of your tour.

Once you get to the giraffes, everyone will have the opportunity to feed and possibly touch the giraffes depending on how close they come over. One word advice - watch out for dribble when feeding them. It's not pleasant getting it on your head! The tour leader keeps hold of the food in a box and only gives you one piece at a time to make it fair for everyone and they also make sure that everyone gets to have lots of interaction with them (unless you get a selfish family that tries to hog the giraffes and won't listen like we did a couple of years ago). At the end everyone's family/group gets to take posed photos with the giraffes whilst feeding them, which you have the option of buying after the tour.

A couple of things to keep in mind: all loose items and bags have to be put into a cupboard/locker that your tour leader has the key to before getting on the truck - cameras and water bottles are allowed but you HAVE to keep hold of them at all times, depending on the time of year you're doing it I would suggest doing the very first tour in the morning because later on in the day it's either too hot or it could get rained off which you don't want, also stay hydrated whilst doing it because there's no shade and it can also be incredibly bumpy because there's no seats in the truck and you have to stand and hold on to the side of the truck when driving.

Hope that helps. If you have anymore questions feel free to ask.

 

[macraven]

Thanks for sharing the details on this
Makes it easier for those interested to take this safari tour

 

[keishashadow]

I was thinking of booking this for our upcoming trip to Busch Gardens, but was wondering if it is worth the extra money? Was hoping to get some thoughts from others who have been on it. Thanks!

It's one of the things that stands out the most for us at BG, even though it's been several years since we enjoyed it. Went in October, it was h-o-t and humid. Booked it as soon as we arrived at the park, grabbed the earliest time open.

Always thought seeing the giraffes while sipping on coffee of AKV balcony amazing, but this topped it!

Had no issue with everybody taking their turn, tour guide ran a tight ship. We stopped even before reaching the giraffes though. The guide gave a final warning to a family to control their kids (who were hopping all over the place while vehicle was moving and bumping into others) or they would be removed from the tour. It worked like magic.

The rest of the tour was interesting enough but wish we had more time feeding the giraffes.

 

[keishashadow]

ok found my pics, unedited still
this is why you do the tour!

this one got miffed when the grub ran out and gave me a big snort lol


below is the posed pic, but you can snap away too

 

[keishashadow]

more of tour

 

[mom2rose&john]

Love th pictures. How long does the tour take?

 

[Penguinempress]

I was thinking of booking this for our upcoming trip to Busch Gardens, but was wondering if it is worth the extra money? Was hoping to get some thoughts from others who have been on it. Thanks!

I did the tour but it was about 4 years ago, not sure if it's changed since then. My husband and I both had a great time, especially because it was our first time feeding giraffes. It was neat to see some of the other animals up close but the giraffes are the only ones you actually interact with. Tampa's Lowry Park zoo also has an encounter where you can feed the giraffes - it's only $5 per person but it's a pretty short encounter compared to the Busch Gardens safari.

 

[zilp]

We loved doing this encounter on our last trip so much we are planning it again this year! Totally worth it in my opinion, especially compared to the interactions we have seen at other zoos. Our encounter was run very similar to PP. I think we were out for maybe 20-30 minutes overall.

 

[keishashadow]

Love th pictures. How long does the tour take?

not long enough around 45 minutes