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A "little piece" of Africa is available to the general public in Sonoma County, about 1 hour north of San Francisco.

SAFARI WEST, CA

Dave
2004-02-21 17:54:35

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of this from when he lived in Africa.

As we continued the tour, Billy warily drove past several Cape buffalo lying in the shade under an oak tree and parked well out of range in case they decided to charge the jeep. He informed us that Cape buffalo are the 2nd most dangerous African animal - just behind the hippopotamus. He told us this tidbit before we actually drove by these animals! After we drove past the buffalo we saw several Zebra grazing & drinking at a watering hole, among them a very cute baby zebra just four days old. In addition to these animals we viewed several species of gazelles, a rare sable and several other species of African animals.

There is such a great feel to this preserve especially towards the end of a warm day. There is no better time to take a tour of the preserve than in the late afternoon/evening (in photography they call this the "golden hour" when the lighting is just about perfect), the smells of the outdoors come alive in the cooling air, and the suns hot rays have diminished.

At the end of the jeep tour we gorged ourselves on delicious watermelon and saved the rinds for feeding the giraffes. Once the giraffes consumed the rinds our guide Billy took us into the Safari West aviary. This is an enclosed netted environment, which contains many species of exotic African birds. As soon as we entered this aviary Billy was immediately hit in the back of his head by a beautifully colored bright blue bird. This bird hit him once, and then flew back to its perch, and then dive-bombed him again. After guiding tours through this aviary several times a day, this bird recognized Billy as the one with the food bag!

After touring the aviary we finished our walking tour by visiting various other animals including cheetahs, lemurs, a serval (an exotic cat) and an African porcupine.

The Trading Post is an excellent art gallery located behind the main office. Be sure to browse among the artwork, woodcarvings and pottery imported from Africa. The highlight of this gallery is the collection of masks located upstairs. In addition to the gallery, dining is by reservation at the Savannah Cafe, which serves African themed meals.