Virginia Safari Park

Leave early in the morning and drive to Virginia Safari Park for the day.  The park is located in Natural Bridge, VA, 3 hours and 25 minutes away from Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C. to Virginia Safari Park (Point B)

THINGS TO DO:

1.  Enjoy a Picnic Lunch

2.  Explore the Safari Drive-Thru Zoo

Feeding the Camels

• Buy one bucket of feed for each person in your car
• Drive the 3 mile loop to familiarize yourself with feeding animals from your car window
• Drive the loop at least one more time (you can drive it as many times as you like) and be more daring, feed the most exciting animals, take great pictures, and laugh

Befriending the Camels

3.  Spend Some Time in the Village Walk-Thru Zoo

• Take any left-over feed to hand-feed the animals
• Walk around the zoo

4.  Visit the Gift Shop

Visiting the Giraffes at the Village Walk-Thru Zoo

THINGS TO KNOW:

This place is a blast.  The animals are very tame and comfortable around humans.  Be prepared to hold on tight to the buckets--these animals have figured out a variety of ways to knock, push, and pull buckets out of timid hands.  Many of the animals are not afraid to make themselves at home in your car, so don't be surprised when a camel pokes his head in the car window and then reaches clear across the car to get to the bucket of food.  The road through the park is not paved, but it's fairly smooth. Driving the park loop will leave your car filthy, both inside and out.  When we went, we were surprised how much of the feed ended up inside the car: startled children spilled buckets; deer and elk shoved their noses into the buckets and pushed half the food into our car in their eagerness; camels slobbered on our upholstery while sniffing for their meals; ostriches and emus pecked on our windows expecting an offering.  However, the experience is worth the effort to clean the car afterwards.  Just be sure to leave things that can’t get dirty in your trunk or at home.

Most of the animals in the petting zoo can be fed with the same buckets of feed that you use for the park.  However, the giraffes and birds have different feed for an additional cost.  It's fun to take a treat into the Lorikeet Landing and coax the birds to land on your hand or shoulder.  Make sure that the giraffes are willing to come close to the feeding platform before you pay for a handful of food.  They’re less apt to come running from across the field just because they see a few people and you don’t want to be left standing there with a handful of food without anything to feed.