What is there to do at the African Safari Wildlife Park in Ohio? Review

This past year we explored outdoors in Put-in-Bay on South Bass Island, Ohio for Green Island Week – it was amazing! While we were in town the African Safari Wildlife Park in Port Clinton, Ohio invited us to come and enjoy their attraction – which was just THE BEST! My family had so many giggles and fun memories here – there is so much to do at the African Safari Wildlife Park!

Looking for other things to do in the area? Check out Ohio’s Lake Erie Shores & Islands!

We absolutely LOVE animals and in a past life I used to care for animals in a college biology lab – not to mention the literally 100+ animals we’ve had at our house since we had kids. I was thrilled to see how well cared for the animals were at African Safari Wildlife Park!

All of the animals – straight down to the budgie aviary – had access to food and water at all times, no matter if they were fed by guests or not! All animals had access to shelter and “non human” areas that were roped off for the animals to go if they didn’t want interaction with people.

Exhibits had signs to read and learn more about each animal that we visited – everything was extremely well done! I’m pretty sure my mushy brain will remember the difference between a dromedary camel and a bactrian camel for life now!

Spend 3 minutes with us for some in person highlights during our trip to the park:

Where can I find coupons for the African Safari Wildlife Park?

Being a family of 5 we’re always on the lookout for a good sale or coupon, and the African Safari Wildlife Park coupons are no different! You can look on their coupons page, sign up for their e-mails at the top of their page, keep an eye on their Facebook page, and always check Groupon before you go!

Can I walk through the safari park?

Yes – well some of it! There’s a walk through portion of African Safari Wildlife Park and there’s a drive through section – I highly recommend doing both! When we first began on the walk through area we arrived at the gibbons area – they were SO MUCH FUN!

We visited right when the park opened and these gibbons were swinging all over the place having a blast! I’ve been to zoos and wildlife centers all over the country and never seen gibbons having so much fun!

I recommend starting off walking through the safari park and enjoying that area before doing the drive through area. You can purchase food in the gift shop for animals in the walk through area as well as buying food for the animals in the drive through area.

If you drive through PLEASE for the love drive up to the red pole like the employees will ask you to! They try to get the cars to drive half way through the exhibit and THEN let the animals come there to feed instead of being stuck right at an open gate. Trust me – if you have food – they will come!

What animals are at the African Safari Wildlife Park?

You’ll find red river hogs, sulcata tortoises, warthogs, white-handed gibbons, kangaroo, porcupine, white alligator, alpacas, bactrian camels, bison, bongos, elk, fallow deer, giraffes, zebra, rabbits, budgies, guanaco, llamas, Scottish highlanders, sika deer, white bison and more!

Can I feed the animals at the safari park?

YES! This is the best part! I absolutely LOVE hands on animal encounters and there’s plenty of that here! I recommend checking their website to see all of their current feeding options but at the very least I highly recommend buying some food for the drive through park. You can also buy sticks to feed the budgies, lettuce for the rabbits, and the new Zoo-it-All Animal Experience pass which lets you feed the kangaroo, porcupine, rabbits and tortoises.

Out of all of the budgie encounters I’ve been to across the country this was one of my favorite! It’s the ONLY encounter I’ve ever been in where they had numerous bird feeders AND water out for the birds in addition to the birds truly being very active in flying over to us. I absolutely loved it.

Can I bring my own food to feed the animals at the safari park?

This one is a no-no – even though it sounds like it would be nice! All food that is fed to the animals here has been cleared for the animals’ consumption via stringent regulations.

How much is food for the animals at the African Safari Wildlife Park?

Food is sold in “packages” if you will. For the drive through safari park you can buy food at $15, $30, or $45 amounts. We bought the $30 package for our family which pretty much covered our 3 kids plus a little. There’s also a $14.95 option per person for the walk through park which allows you to feed the kangaroos, porcupine, tortoise, rabbits and budgies. OR you can also buy the budgie food separately!

Will my car get damaged by animals at the safari park?

Wild animals are animals! But seriously, I’ve been to the African Safari Wildlife Park twice now and have not had any damage. I have had plenty of slobber and mud though! I DO however, highly recommend folding your mirrors in before going through the drive through safari! There are BIG animals, some with horns – anything can happen.

My best suggestion is that if you feel uncomfortable at any time just roll up your windows and the animals will soon realize you have no food for them and they will walk on. Also – make sure you hold all food outside of your car so the animals aren’t prone to constantly sticking their heads in!

What ELSE is there to do there?

Yes – the animals of course are the main attraction at the safari park but there’s a lot of other things to see and do! There are educational animal programs during the summer, a playground, camel rides, gem mining, places to eat, and the gift shop. We spent several hours at the park and didn’t even make it to any of the animal programs because we had such a long distance to drive back home. It was a really nice morning!

Animal experiences are very important to me as I raise my children. My kids LOVE animals, they love learning about their habitats, and visiting the African Safari Wildlife Park was a fabulous hands on way for my children to see the animals they learn about up close and personal.

Not only will my kids remember this trip to the safari park for the rest of their lives but it further instills their love for learning, animals and nature!

My youngest daughter especially loved Rabbit Row! It was a lovely little path that you could walk on with oodles of bunnies running around everywhere! It was so fun!

I was also happy to see how especially active the kangaroos were in the morning when we went too! In fact I could barely get a photo of one because they were so busy hopping around!

And perhaps one of my favorite animals in the park are these gentle giants – the giraffes! They’re so sweet!

Overall we had such an awesome day!! I know if we are back in the Port Clinton area my kids will be begging to visit the African Safari Wildlife Park again! It was a fantastic experience, again (I’ve been before but my kids hadn’t!)! If you live near by they even offer an annual pass which would be fun!

If you’re looking to tent camp nearby I recommend Sunset Shore Campground in Port Clinton! There are no showers but it comes with a killer view and private beach front for your tent!