San Diego Zoo Safari Park

By alantvuong on May 2, 2020

When my buddy and I visited San Diego Zoo back in May 2014, we bought a double pass that includes a visit to San Diego Zoo Safari Park since it was cheaper than buying them individually. They also offer free admission to wheelchair companions too. San Diego Zoo Safari Park opened in 1972 and has a land area of 1800 acres and has over 2600 animals of more than 300 species and 3500 plant species. The safari park sees about 2 million people annually and at the time I never been on an African safari and wanted to experience something similar to a real safari which I finally did in 2018 (read about it here).

map of San Diego Zoo Safari Park

Getting There

San Diego Zoo Safari Park shows animals in open habitats and it is the sister park to San Diego Zoo. It is located near Escondido, a city that is 30 miles (48 km) northeast of San Diego. It is quite time consuming and difficult to take transit to San Diego Zoo Safari Park and quite expensive to use a taxi, so we decided to use a rideshare to get to the park as it was slightly cheaper than a taxi.

using rideshare services like Uber and Lyft to get to and from the park

Exhibits

Exhibits at San Diego Zoo Safari Park include: Safari Base Camp, Nairobi Village, Gorilla Forest, African Woods, African Outpost, African Plains, Lion Camp, The Grove, Elephant Valley, Tiger Trail (didn’t open until 2 weeks after our visit), Asian Savanna, Condor Ridge, World Gardens and Walkabout Australia.

Mombasa Lagoon at Nairobi Village

After entering by Safari Base Camp, we went to Nairobi Village to see Mombasa Lagoon which is surrounded by paths, wooden walkways and a simulation of a Congo River fishing village. At this watering hole, we saw pelicans, ducks and other birds.

learning about kangaroos at Walkabout Australia

After at Walkabout Australia, we saw an animal talk where a zoo keeper taught us everything about kangaroos. Next we saw lemurs at African Woods before going to Lion Camp to check out the lions. We saw a hot air balloon for a balloon safari but it didn’t look wheelchair accessible so we went past it and headed to African Outpost to ride the Africa Tram.

Balloon Safari

lion at Lion Camp

Africa Tram

The main highlight of San Diego Zoo Safari Park is the Africa Tram. It is included with our day pass and is a 25 minute open air expedition that takes us to all the field exhibits around African Plains. No reservations are needed for this round trip safari and we had to let staff know if we need a wheelchair accessible tram. They let wheelchair users get in a short line that leads you near the front of the tram.

waiting for The Africa Tram

accessible seating right behind the driver

We are then directed to right behind the driver of the tram and a seat does fold up for me to park my wheelchair. Although I am facing backwards, that did not interfere with this amazing experience. As the tram slowly moves around African Plains, we saw so many magnificent animals. The views were breath taking.

cheetah

rhino

There were cheetahs, antelopes, flamingos, rhinos, herons, donkey, giraffes and other animals just hanging out in their own natural environment. This really made me want to go to Africa and go on a real safari. This safari on the Africa Tram was one of my favorite travel experiences in my life so far.

antelopes

giraffes

Accessibility

After the Africa Tram, we are taken back to African Outpost. They offer shuttles to take people anywhere within the safari park. We got on an accessible shuttle golf cart and asked to be taken to Elephant Valley so we could see the elephants before going to The Grove for a burger and fries lunch. We saw another animal talk about turtles and armadillos before leaving the park.

accessible golf cart shuttle

elephants at Elephant Valley

San Diego Zoo Safari Park was pretty wheelchair accessible throughout the whole park, except it is so massive that it can be tiring getting from one side to the other. Pathways and walkways were pretty good too. Besides having the accessible shuttles, they also have accessible caravan safaris and overnight accessible camping. The park map also lists accessible trails along with where accessible bathrooms are.

lunch time

If you enjoyed San Diego Zoo then you would definitely enjoy San Diego Zoo Safari Park. Just remember to buy the double pass to both parks to save money and that a companion that needs to help a wheelchair guest gets free admission. The safari park is quite far from downtown San Diego but the Africa Tram is so worth it and is even wheelchair accessible too. If you can’t afford a real safari in Africa, this one is amazing and so is the rest of the park.