Virginia Safari Park at Natural Bridge

The National Air and Space Museum wasn't the only big field trip we took in October. Since we are beginning Apologia's Zoology curriculum this year, we decided to start off with a bang by visiting the Virginia Safari Park in Natural Bridge, VA. My parents went a few years ago and had a wonderful time, so we'd been looking forward to a visit for a while but never made it up to that point. With the kids getting older though, we felt it was definitely doable, and we'd better try it before the new baby arrived. 

My mom, who enjoyed visiting before, wanted to be a part of our adventure and see the kids' reactions. We called Granny at the last minute to see if she wanted to join us too, and thankfully she decided to drop what she had planned and come along. It was somewhat of a long drive that day, but we stopped part way for some lunch in Woodstock. 

The kids loved the Burger King crowns.

The Safari Park is a drive-thru experience. Their 180-acre adventure is set up so that visitors take their own vehicles through the grounds, feeding the free range exotic animals the park boasts as they go.

Although we don't normally do "school" on Saturdays, this was one learning experience we didn't have to drag anyone into kicking and screaming. They were so excited! They didn't really have a good idea of what to expect though, when those animals started reaching in the windows of our car or blocking our path, they were definitely taken by surprise. Sometimes they were giggling and at others they were fussing at a few of the more pesky ones to get back, but no matter their reactions, the adults got a lot of joy out of seeing the expressions on their little faces.

What are you looking at?

Many of the animals were pretty aggressive when it came to getting their snacks. Often they'd block our path, standing firm to make sure we didn't get by them.

One of the things I really wished we'd done differently is to have taken this adventure before we bought a brand new mini van. Some of the animals would get right up against the car with their horns, and one left scratches all the way down the side (which of course the park says they are not responsible for). Also, we had a terrible mess inside the vehicle from the animals reaching in to eat or the kids spilling the buckets. We tried to get everyone to reach out the window when feeding, but often the animals would stick their heads right in there, fighting for a share of what we had before we had a chance to offer it. 

Whoops! Surprise, Reid!

I think Granny had as much fun as the kids did. 

Beep! Beep!

Most of the animals were available to feed, but a few were fenced off like these rhinos.

How funny!

Sally the camel has one hump, Sally the camel has one hump...

It was hard to get a good angle to take pics, but I'm glad I caught this reaction here.

The ostriches were a little crazy trying to get the food and threw it all over the place. We laughed so hard because one of them made a mess all over Granny. She cracked up saying, "I think it spit in my mouth." Yuck!

Poor Hadley lost her bucket of food out the window her first try, but she got the hang of it. Hold on tight, Little Girl!

Hadley liked to let each animal have just a tiny bit...

...then she'd pull back her bucket saying, "That's enough. That's enough." Granny got so tickled as she bossed these overgrown beasts back out the window, rolling it up if she need to.

Hadley really wanted to see the zebras, and although they were fenced off, thankfully we got to check them out and even feed them thanks to a tube they had set up for safety.

We had a gorgeous view while we drove too.

Dave was not enjoying the field trip for the most part at the beginning. The spilled food and animals rubbing against the vehicle we had so recently invested in soured the mood for sure. By the end of our driving tour though, he was getting into it a bit too. 

I turned my back for a second!

Reid was looking forward to seeing the giraffes - his favorites.

This car was just entering the park as we were leaving and I snapped a shot just to document how crazy these things were when you first came in. 

Aside from the driving tour, there is also another section set up more like a normal zoo that we went to check out.

Daddy feeding a few llamas

One of the coolest sections was the Budgerir birds. You can purchase budgie sticks to hold and the birds will fly right up and sit on your hand as they eat. Thankfully, someone leaving gave us theirs for free and we did the same as we exited.

The kids were really excited as first but it was a little scary too. Their feet didn't quite hurt with they landed but it wasn't the most comfortable feeling and took a bit of getting used to. 

Hadley ended up giving away her stick after she freaked out a few times to the delight of a few other tourists who really got a kick out of her reaction.

Caleb loves lemurs so it was pretty cool he got a chance to see a few.

We ended the day with the flamingos.

Overall, surprisingly, this trip wasn't as pleasant for us as the museum in D.C. had been a few weeks prior. The kids were cranky at times (and so were we to be honest). We also got kind of a late start that day due to Hadley having ballet in the morning and after a long drive when we arrived they had a sign saying the park was closing an hour early, which we were frustrated about since admission was rather expensive and we'd have picked another day if they'd notified us on their website of the change. At the end of day, they also began putting the animals away twenty minutes prior to closing, knocking us out of seeing a lot of things we'd planned to as well. We were especially disappointed because when we arrived at the giraffe feeding area, which we knew Reid would love, there were none available. The staff was pretty rude about herding people out as well. When asked why they put things away early told us that was standard and that we were expected to be in our cars and leaving by the closing time on the park, which I found rude and unprofessional. I thought maybe this was just a fluke, but upon reading other reviews from visitors it seems they have had similar experiences with staff members who were not very courteous in their dealings with the public.

In the end, I have mixed feelings about whether or not I'd recommend this place or not, based on the expense, how I feel the staff interacts with visitors, the wear and tear on our car, etc. I guess maybe if you know what to expect and are prepared those things may not sour your day though. I have to say though that the kids definitely loved it and it was such a unique way to see many of the animals that we wouldn't normally get the chance to interact with.