Hello!

We plan to visit Lion Safari; here are a few questions:

1. Should we take a tour bus (operated by the park) or drive ourselves through the safari? Which one would be best?

2. We plan to visit Niagara Falls as well and are going to stay there overnight. Would it be better to stop by the Safari on the way back to Toronto instead of driving straight back to Toronto then drive out to the safari on another day? It looks like it would take 1 hr 15' fr. Niagara Falls; 1 hr . fr. Toronto. We may spend 3-5 hrs in the park depending how tired we would be.

Thanks,

K.

I haven't been there myself, but have been told by quite a few people (when I was thinking about taking the grandkids - haven't got around to it yet) that you should definitely take the park tour bus rather than your own car. Monkeys and other animals climb all over the vehicles and some people have had their windshield wipers pulled off and other sorts of minor but extremely inconvenient damage done to their cars. I still plan to take the grandkids one of these days!

Hi,

That's what I was guessing, too. Especially, we are a group of 4 adults and one infant loading in a rental car. Maybe a Landrover would be able to endure the drive. I'm going to check directly w/ the park if there is age restriction for the ride. I started to think maybe it's not a good idea to take the baby for the ride.

Thanks

PS: I'm taking my parents, husband & our baby (he just tags along; I don't think he would have that much fun yet @ 6 mo old.) So grandma, take your grand kid to the park and have a full day of fun!

Definately take the bus through the park. I think it's much more enjoyable, especially for the driver of the car. There are now worries, the windows in the bus and big and you are up so much higher and can see so much more. Enjoyable for everyone.
Yes it would make more sense to get up in the morning in NIagara and visit the park on your way back from there. YOu would take the QEW, then the 403 towards Hamilton, north on Highway 6 and left at Safari Road. Just follow the signs from there. It isn't that far out of your way. Where as, if you come all the way back from Toronto, it will take over an hour each way.
Enjoy!!

Thank you, Kodi.

We went a few years ago and drove our car, a minivan. Yes, the monkeys tend to climb the cars, not for grins but to accept the handouts from ignorant tourists in spite of the warnings not to feed the animals.
The monkeys are so used to being fed goodies that they climb most of the vehicles coming through. If its a heavy tourist day, driving through the monkey area can be very slow, thus giving them more time to climb aboard.
We didn't open our windows and didn't feed the monkeys, so even though a couple climbed aboard, they ddn't stick around long and left for better pickings. Turning on the wipers or blowing the horn tend to aggravate them. We didn't sustain any damage and it's my belief that very few cars are damaged at all, not even superficial stratches which could be buffed away.

Thank you so much for sharing your own experience.

K.

Where is Lion Safari in relationship to
Ottawa?

African Lion Safari is west of Toronto, north of Hamilton, south of Cambridge.

From Ottawa, you'd drive to Toronto, and then drive perhaps another hour or haour and a half west of the city.

It is, incidentally, a great place.

BAK

I've been to African Lion Safari often and would say that driving through is better because you can stop and watch the tigers and lions as long as you want. The baboons (not monkeys) do jump up on your car, but if you stop just before their area and let all the crowds of cars clear out you can drive through slightly faster than a slow crawl and not get stuck in a traffic jam, where they have time to get into mischief.

We were able to take our time and enjoy looking at the animals and babies that interested us. Be sure you have air conditioning in your car though, because you are not allowed to even crack open the windows for extra air (lions will eat you)! At the end, you can enjoy the Misumu Bay Wet Play area to cool off so wear a bathing suit.

There are many different shows when you're done the driving tour: elephants, parrots, birds of prey, and display cages of exotic birds so this could be an all day tour if you wanted to take the time. If your baby were older there is a playground too.

http://www.lionsafari.com/location.asp

Hm...Now you convinced me the excitement of driving through the safari ourselves. gt; I guess, a van or a good SUV would be better than a mid-size sedan?

To drive or not to drive? I have to think about it (LOL).

Just hope it will not be rainy while we're there (first week of Sept).

K.

I have also driven through and although I have heard about the damage that can be done by the Baboons...I didn't witness any. I agree with one of the previous readers too - if you follow the directions to not open your window and not feed them...they do leave you alone then you can watch them leap all over the other peoples cars.

I would agree as well that with your own car you can really go at your own pace and that makes a world of difference - many interesting things can happen with the animals and it is more fun if you can observe at will - but definetly definetly have Air Conditioning!!

I hope the cell phone works in the safari, in case of emmergency on the rail. gt;

Thanks for the AC reminder, we'll be driving a rental car; defintely we will check if the air conditioner working well.

K.

There are park wardens in trucks painted like zebras patrolling constantly and observation towers where they watch for people in trouble / car breakdowns. Don't worry and have a great time! Try to go early in the day so that the animals are more active than at noon or early afternoon.

Cool! Thanks for the extra info, rider! I can't wait; just hope it won't be a rainy day (Sep 1). :-S

K.

Unfortunately we got there in the afternoon; most of the animals were up and running around still, except the lions were taking their naps. We had a great time, though! We did drive through the reserve in our rental Volvo station wagon. It was great!


We were lucky that the weather was nice during our stay in Niagara Falls & Toronto. No rain!