Go Wild at African Lion Safari #africanlionsafari

Recently we had the opportunity to go wild at African Lion Safari, about an hour west of Toronto in Cambridge. And boy, did we ever.

We started our day on the Safari Tour Bus (our car has yet to be paid for, so we left Megatron in the ample free parking lot).  The Bus Tour is air conditioned and only water (no other food or drink) is allowed to be consumed, so make sure you give kids a snack before boarding the bus. Our driver was very knowledgeable as she swerved through traffic (including an ostrich!) as she took us through the Game Reserves. We were able to capture some great pictures, especially of Safari the baby giraffe who is the first in Canada and the second in the world to be born through artificial insemination. Hannah wasn't sure what to make of the situation of us being "caged" on the bus and the animals being wild. But I thought it was pretty neat, especially when the baboons would hitch rides on the cars!

After our tour, we headed to the Mombasa Market Restaurant for a reasonably priced and delicious Pizza Pizza lunch.

Then we headed to the "Nature Boy" Scenic Railway. We saw a LOT of Canadian Geese and some other, more exotic animals en route. Hannah loved the wind in her hair as we travelled around the small lake. Near the end of the trip we saw an elephant, so we decided to check that area out next.

We all enjoyed watching the Elephant Round Up Show. It's not every day you see an elephant paint a picture or score a soccer goal. At the end of the show, we all got to touch an elephant!

After sitting for so long, Hannah was feeling kind of restless so we walked around and looked at the various animal enclosures - many of them being birds, and also a small petting zoo where you can feed the animals who reside in that area.

And then it was the highlight of the trip for Hannah - playing in the Misumu Bay Wet Play area. Parents, bring your bathing suits. I attempted to walk around with Hannah in street clothes...and got completely soaked! There is plenty to do for any age group including water slides - kids under 5 require an adult with them at all times.

When Hannah finally uttered the words, "No more water" after more than an hour of playing (aka me chasing her and getting soaked), we of course, headed to more water - in the form of the "African Queen" Boat Cruise where we spotted black swans, primates and more.

We took the opportunity to let Hannah burn some of her energy (where do toddlers get it...especially with no nap?) in the Jungle Playground while we waited for the elephant swim.

The Elephant Swim was easily the cherry on top of an already amazing day. Between Chris and I, we took over 200 photos of it! Some of the elephants head to the water (holding trunks and tails no less) and enjoy almost a 30 minute swim, with apples as a snack. Watching baby elephant Nellie with her mom Natasha frolic in the water was mesmerizing. Nellie is the first "All Canadian" Asian Elephant at the park - both her parents were also born at African Lion Safari.

We had a great day and will definitely be returning in the future.

African Lion Safari is celebrating its 45th season and is open every day until October 13, 2014. Have you gone wild?

Disclosure: We were guest of African Lion Safari for the purpose of this review. As always, all opinions on this blog are my own.

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