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Giraffes . Zebras. Hyenas. Wildebeasts. Impalas. Eland. White Tigers. Cheetas. Lemurs. Meerkats. Camels. Cassowaries.
I always thought I would only see those animals if I visit the African plains or the South American Jungles. 😩 How much do you think would that cost me if I will fly to Kalahati or Madagascar? With that in mind, my only hope was if I will have an internet breakthrough, win the lottery for Php 88 Million or use up my retirement fund. Will they be just another unticked box in my heart’s bucketlist?
Thank goodness the Lhuilliers have shared their blessings to the public by birthing their brainchild which is Cebu Safari and Adventure Park. It has a lot of animals to offer for your eyes to feast on. My 2-year old son has only reserved his conversational skills for topics about animals and the beach so I had to oblige him to save up for this trip because I know he will enjoy it.
HOW WE GOT THERE
We prepared early on so we can hop on a bus at 7AM from Cebu City to Carmen Public Market ( for Habal-habal) or you can opt for Carmen Park (van/ shuttle). From Cebu City North Bus Terminal , we hopped onto a bus for Php 60.00 per person. Our baby boy of 2 is getting on the bus for free.We wanted to ride a van shuttle towards the safari but upon passing by the park, we were not able to see any van so we decided to stop at the market.it could have cost us only Php 100.00 for transpo to the safari. However , we wanted to avoid long queues, so we decided to try the habal-habal. The bus conductor gladly helped us and cued the driver to make a stop at Carmen public market. Upon hopping out of the bus, we were rammed with many habal-habal drivers barking “ Safari? Safari? Safari?”. That is how easy it is to hire a motorcycle to take you there. We first set the asking price and they said Php100 per motorcycle, so we decided to go for it. My husband was a bit on the heavy side like myself, so we decided to take separate habal-habal since we had a kid. Upon arriving , they charged us with another Php100.00 each. What a bummer! This is the downside of travel sometimes but we gladly bargained for Php50.00 each and I shoved that negative feeling down the safari’s entrance view. Watch the video in my Youtube channel.
The crew at the entrance were very welcoming and gladly called for a tram to pick us up. I always wanted to ride on a tram dahil wala kaming tram sa bahay. Hahhahhaha. It gave me chills when I saw it. Or it could have been the chilly air, I guess. 
Then I came to terms that they are on a different level. They have their own ambulance.
No food or drinks bought from outside are allowed. Must be for the health of the animals and the cleanliness , too. I believe this is on point as there are tourists who still choose to be environmentally irresponsible and can’t wait to find a litter box. They just pitch trash anywhere they like. Others may just also throw their food at animals . I don’t know. Anyway, my baby’s water and milk were allowed inside the safari, thank goodness.
My kid, being more than 3-feet tall was charged with 50% the adult price of Php 800.00 . Being almost a foot above the 2-feet mark, he looks like he's about to cry. that's the face he made upon knowing he’d only have 50% discount for the adult entrance fee.
We were then excited to swipe our way through the entrance using the tag bracelet and get on our tram.
The tram then dropped us towards Michel’s Garden, our first stop, which , in its entirety , is literally a mountain of all kinds of ornamental plants that all of us have at home. Mostly they are orchids. I saw no fiddle leaf fig, by the way, I felt triumphant. Huh?
They have amazing collection of Orchids and I believe they are just starting .
Vladymir was itching to find a cooler area and our Papamer was super exhausted.
We went back to the basecamp to purchase water as it was getting warmer. It was leg work and arm stretches with our kid. We were reminded by the crew to stop by the viewing deck to see the kangaroos and I got super excited.
I was super excited to see them. That means I don’t have to fly to Australia for these. It is actually farther down the Basecamp viewing deck so no matter how the children shouts ‘kangarooooo’, they just got ignored by Daddy Kanga. Vladymir however got pressured by the kids and was obliged to say hi to the kangaroo. Up til now, he keeps saying ‘hello kangaroo’ at home.
There was a baby kangaroo somewhere there but they were too far, di na kinaya ng camera.
We headed to the Aviary Dome adjacent to the Basecamp.
Looks like they were having a meeting.These birds are just everywhere in the aviary. They most likely are just above you.
They were crowned pigeons walking with us and Vladymir wanted to touch them so deviated towards the bushy area.
We took a hard right turn and found other birds but di rin kinaya ng camera ko so I will just leave these photo here.
We went out of the dome and back to the entrance of the basecamp to get courtesy umbrellas. There are a lot of them on each tram stop. Twas getting sunnier and we wanted to walk towards the Tiger’s Turf. It’s a walking distance lang naman so why not, di ba? Leg work ulit.
It’s my first time to see a bengal tiger. It’s not everyday na may maglalakad sa kalsadang ganyan so pinush ko na si Hubby to hurry up and leave the burmese python for later. We were running our way through the crowd because their feeding time is at 10-12AM.
Winner to si Ateng kasi para talaga siyang tigress in this pose.
We had big bags so we left one (along with the food and water that we had for the bus ride ) in the information center at the receiving area located next to this big map of the entire safari.
We went to the ticket center and had ourselves tagged with their bracelet. The photo on the right is what happened to what they gave us after the entire tour. The tags were very difficult to cut. It will last towards the entire tour.
It felt like we were on Amazing Race and I was so much in a hurry to see all the animals and we had to hurry so as not to miss seeing the Red Bengal tiger and the white tiger. ( you know how classical conditioning works for animals held in captivity. They are to eat at specific hours of the day at a specific area so we can have photo ops with them. I hope I am right with this. But don’t get me wrong because if you see the animals here, they look just fine and happy because you can see them roam around. See my video of the white tiger. I was hoping he’d do a Mufasa moment on his rock by the marsh)
It felt like we were on Amazing Race and I was so much in a hurry to see all the animals and we had to hurry so as not to miss seeing the Red Bengal tiger and the white tiger. ( you know how classical conditioning works for animals held in captivity. They are to eat at specific hours of the day at a specific area so we can have photo ops with them. I hope I am right with this. But don’t get me wrong because if you see the animals here, they look just fine and happy because you can see them roam around. See my video of the white tiger. I was hoping he’d do a Mufasa moment on his rock by the marsh)
My kid, being more than 3-feet tall was charged with 50% the adult price of Php 800.00 . Being almost a foot above the 2-feet mark, he looks like he's about to cry. that's the face he made upon knowing he’d only have 50% discount for the adult entrance fee.
We were then excited to swipe our way through the entrance using the tag bracelet and get on our tram.
We passed by the Safari Fountain and took the mandatory selfie. I always wanted to do a headstand to all amazing places I have been to.
This is my obligatory headstand by the fountain.
There is a river or watchamacallit that cut through the entire safari and it makes it more beautiful and lush with vegetation.
They had super over-sized cacti of different varieties.
Their bonsais are okay , something that I have seen before and the root system is not that intricate so I figured they must still be developing this part of the park.
They had super over-sized cacti of different varieties.
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Over-sized cois and other fishes.
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Their bonsais are okay , something that I have seen before and the root system is not that intricate so I figured they must still be developing this part of the park.
There is no proper photo with Vladymir in site. He wants to run around and explore everything fast. He took after his mom , I guess.
They have amazing collection of Orchids and I believe they are just starting .
Vladymir was itching to find a cooler area and our Papamer was super exhausted.
I was super excited to see them. That means I don’t have to fly to Australia for these. It is actually farther down the Basecamp viewing deck so no matter how the children shouts ‘kangarooooo’, they just got ignored by Daddy Kanga. Vladymir however got pressured by the kids and was obliged to say hi to the kangaroo. Up til now, he keeps saying ‘hello kangaroo’ at home. There was a baby kangaroo somewhere there but they were too far, di na kinaya ng camera.
We headed to the Aviary Dome adjacent to the Basecamp.
We found that they had a clever way to keep birds in and bugs out. It reminds me of Monterey and I liked what they did.
Looks like they were having a meeting.These birds are just everywhere in the aviary. They most likely are just above you.
They were crowned pigeons walking with us and Vladymir wanted to touch them so deviated towards the bushy area.
We took a hard right turn and found other birds but di rin kinaya ng camera ko so I will just leave these photo here.We went out of the dome and back to the entrance of the basecamp to get courtesy umbrellas. There are a lot of them on each tram stop. Twas getting sunnier and we wanted to walk towards the Tiger’s Turf. It’s a walking distance lang naman so why not, di ba? Leg work ulit.
It’s my first time to see a bengal tiger. It’s not everyday na may maglalakad sa kalsadang ganyan so pinush ko na si Hubby to hurry up and leave the burmese python for later. We were running our way through the crowd because their feeding time is at 10-12AM.
Winner to si Ateng kasi para talaga siyang tigress in this pose.
We had our pictures taken and had it printed for Php250 and we got this.
The shot wasn’t that flattering because Vladymir got so unruly and wouldn’t look at the camera. He was all ‘It’s a tiger ! It’s a tiger!’ And we were only given 10 seconds to take the shot. They have hired photographers so don’t fret. You can also access the. Soft copy of your photos online the directions of which can be seen at the back of this souvenir. I haven’t visited their site though.
Vladymir here looks like he’s about to run. Browse further down to see how terrified he was of the White Tiger. You had to be there before 10 AM to avoid long lines.
We then proceeded to the African Savanna scheduled at 10AM to 3:30 PM. As you can see, sanay na sanay sa pictorial at buhay artista and anak ko. Napaka cooperative niya sa picturan. Irony. This was the only shot that he wasnt being difficult to catch. Takbo siya nang takbo to see the animals.
Don’t forget na sumakay sa right side ng tram kasi mas makakakuha ka ng good shots on that side. We didn’t go back to get better shots kasi medyo unruly na si Vladymir. He was too sleepy to appreciate everything.
Shaky talaga my camera and I was holding Vladymir in my arms while he was drinking his milk. I happen to like our guide kasi nga 10-minute guided tour itong sa African Savanna part. She has all the details about the animals dito. Pinakagusto ko yung wildebeast and the zebras.Wag niyong indahin kasi this is not my best angle. Basta happyng happy ako na I was so close to the Zebra. Palakad lakad lang sila .
There were more of these and the others were on the other side of the swamp. Di ko na pinush na mag super long selfie stick. Chillin by the pool si kuya just about a meter under the bridge we were walking on.
We saw four otters. Have seen this in the books donated to our public school library when I was 9.
We got out of the Crocodile District to walk towards the White Lion Safari. It was kind of funny that we were there with the lion and the lioness but the camera couldn’t catch the lioness yawning. Could’ve been an awesome shot.
Anyway , what struck me most was that after their banters, they went away like 2 meters from the viewing area And they were mating for 10 seconds in front of our eyes. Haha. I’m glad my son is just 2 years old and couldn’t have asked me about what’s going on. It could’ve been a pretty awkward im-not-ready-to-answer-your-questions-about-reproduction-yet kind of situation ( watch the full video on my youtube channel).
The cheetah on the other hand was something that concocted a lot of theories on my mind. Like wolves, they are seldomly found in zoos. Maybe their upkeep is way too expensive. They need a bigger space to hunt and run or they lose their true nature. They are viciously difficult to train. If you try to look at other district in the safari, I could tell that the fence security of the lions where super loose ( or watchamacallit ) as well as that of the tigers. ( see my videos). What we saw was that he gets in the bigger cage, gets out in 10-20 minutes, walks towards the plat form , goes around circling the perimeter fence and goes back to the bigger roofed cage.
Maybe the classical conditioning that they used was to put the food on that particular trail. So every time he senses people outside, that is what he keeps on doing. Do you get me?then, we walked to see that there were ponies or donkeys in an area that is currently under development or construction ba , ewan, and I was so glad that I saw them. They weren't listed out I guess , or they were not on top of our priorities but they made me a notch or two happier.Anyway, we went to see the tallest animals that roamed the safari. They looked gorgeous.
We had lunch at the Safari Outpost. This rice meal is around Php 290.00 and was good enough to suffice our hunger. I also used the powder room and it was very clean and spacious like the ones in decent airports.
