Heading up to Camp Verde

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Last year for part of my Birthmas celebration, Chris and I headed to Out of Africa, a safari park located about an hour and a half north of Phoenix, in the city of Camp Verde.  Out of Africa is a privately owned animal sanctuary specializing in adopting big cats from previously unsuitable living arrangements and giving them homes; they have many other animals, too, acquired from zoos and other parks around the world.  It can be an expensive day out,* so when I learned that you get in free during the month of your birth, I was pumped.  Mom was flying home from her Thanksgiving visit on Tuesday, December 2nd, and while I had taken the 1st off from work, Chris hadn’t.  That left Mom and I with a need to fill the day with just the two of us, and since we both had December birthdays and would get in free, I suggested the park.


We have arrived!

We ended up at the park around 10:30, after the first safari tour of the day departed, so we waited for the tram to come by and take us to the top of the park, near several of the animal enclosures.**  While waiting, we enjoyed watching the occupants of the nearby aviary, including guinea fowl, lovebirds, and lemurs.


Lemurs like to sit this way.

While riding the tram, we saw several animals, including the white rhino the park recently received from Busch Gardens in Tampa and a grizzly bear cub from another zoo – only 7 months old and having a great time romping around in his enclosure.  Seriously cute.


Me with Jericho

The tram dumped us off at the top of the park, and we wandered around for awhile, checking out the big cats and other animals in enclosures nearby.


I think the emus may want something.

We slowly wandered the loop back to the entrance to the park, stopping along the way to say hi to more lemurs and the prairie dogs.


Fat little dudes.  I loves them.

We made it back to the entrance with a few minutes to have a drink of water and a potty break, and then we hopped on the bus for the safari tour.  Thankfully, we had the same tour guide/animal keeper Chris and I had on our tour last year, as she was fantastic.  We fed Kebo the giraffe and saw several baby animals, including this little zebra:


Cute, right? 


There’s a giraffe on the bus!

We finished our tour without incident and were happy to leave our guide a hefty tip, seeing as how it was the only money we were spending in the park on this particular day. 

Several wineries have sprung up in this area of the state – known as the Verde Valley – recently, and one was just a few miles down the road from Out of Africa in nearby Cottonwood.  To cap off our day, we visited the tasting room and vineyard at Alcantara, sipping on wine and nibbling on one of their antipasti platters.


Salut!

We each ended up with a bottle of wine as well (how does that happen?); I took home a red blend while Mom preferred a bottle of their port.  Overall, the wine was solid but a bit pricey given all of the great variety that’s out there right now.  The tasting experience, however, was fantastic, and I highly recommend a visit, to drink, eat, and bond with the winery’s Chesapeake Bay Retriever, Charley.

Later!

Amy

* Although the park admission isn’t Disney levels of crazy, and the park puts out lots of coupons, the small extras – food, special wildlife tours, and so on – add up after awhile. 

** The main section of the park is only .75 miles away from the entrance, and it’s easily walkable.  We took the tram since it offers a short guided tour, and my knee had been a little funny lately.

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