Ever wondered what it would like to go on an African Safari; cruising along the African plains, viewing lions, tigers, elephants, giraffes, and other exotic wild creatures. There’s no tigers in Africa you idiot, I hear you say, but there are at the Taronga Western Plains Zoo, and here, you can go on your own safari, on foot, by bike, or for the lazy, like us, by car.Checking out of our motel in the morning we followed the Mitchell Highway over the bridge, turned left onto the Newell Hwy, and a couple of kilometers down the road is the turn off to the Zoo. Adult entry is about forty dollars, however as we are Zoo Friend members at Taronga Zoo in Sydney, we are allowed free entry.
The first stop is the information building to get the timetable for the day’s activities.
TRAVEL TIP: You can make bookings here to get closer to the animals; behind the scenes tours, animal encounter's etc.
Meanwhile, my photographer, Louise has woken up and is in full National Geographic mode, snapping swans and this cheeky Spider monkey (pictured below).
The Zoo is set on over 300 hectares, and designed so that the visitor follows the road around clockwise, encountering, I’m told, around 82 different types of species. For the terminally lazy, like us, it’s even possible most of the time not to leave the car, shooting the animals (photographing, not firing a gun), out the car window. You immediately notice how much more space the animals have, which removes that guilty feeling that sometimes creeps up on you when you see caged animals at a normal zoo. It's like being on African Safari, or as they say in the brochure 'Africa in your backyard’. Well, presumably, the Africa without the warlords, corruption, and epidemic diseases.
Make sure you do get out of the car to walk to the African Savannah Viewing Platform, where it really does sort of look like an African Savannah (pictured top of page).
The Cheetah’s are located just behind the platform, and they stalk around their home, watchful, like they are patrolling, just ready to chase a startled gazelle (pictured above). Cheetah’s, as you well know, are the fastest animals on four legs. The sign says 'Male cheetahs live in small groups of 2-3. Females live alone (the girls are probably saying right now – lucky them). Cheetahs purr to each other in greeting but also communicate with chirps and yelps. Some yelps can be heard up to 2km away." I’m sure my yelps could be heard 2km away, when the Australian rugby team lost to New Zealand last night.
Drive further along and you can find this Sumatran tiger. See, I told you there were tigers (pictured above).
Here is the King of the Jungle, the African Lion। (Pictured above). The sign says “they sleep up to 20 hours a day and can consume up to 40kg of meat in one sitting - that's 352 quarter pound burgers!’
Talking about food, the Midway Kiosk, is located here, and the toilets. But, now, it’s starting to rain, and we are very glad we decided to drive, not walk or ride the bikes (as if that was going to ever happen).
Continuing on past the midway point, there are many other animals still to go;
Zebras
Not sure what these are. Antelopes?
The Feature Animals as listed by the brochure include; African Lion, African Wild Dog, Asian and African Elephants, Bison, Black Rhinoceros, Bongo, Cheetah, Dingo, Galapagos Tortoise, Gibbon, Giraffe, Greater One-horned Rhinoceros, Hippopotamus, Maned Wolf, Meerkat, Otter, Przewalski's Horse, Slamang, Tapir, Tiger, White Rhinoceros, and Zebra.
There's so much more to do here, and it's no wonder that all tickets are valid for two days. You can actually stay on-site at the Zoofari Lodge. Imagine, going to sleep listening to the roar of the lions, and the sounds of the other animals - just like being on Safari.
We left to head back to Sydney, and because it was raining, but we will be back. We like animals (Louise is a trained veterinarian nurse) , and if you like animals, we recommend a visit to the Taronga Western Plains Zoo, where you can see them without all the cages and bars. If you can't make it to Dubbo, definitely go to Taronga Zoo in Sydney. It should be noted that Taronga Zoo make a significant contribution to conservation, which is one of the reasons why we are Zoo Friends.
Zoo Friends is an organisation which offers support in form of volunteers and fund raising for both Taronga and Western Plains Zoo. It's a good way of getting behind the scenes at the Zoo and offers its members free Zoo entry. Members are also eligible to volunteer to help at the Zoo. More details at http://www.zoofriends.org.au/
Taronga Western Plains Zoo
Obley Road, Dubbo NSW 2830 Ph: (02) 6882 5888
Fax: (02) 6884 1722
www. Taronga.org.au
wpz@zoo.nsw.gov.au
Viewing time: 9.00am-4.00pm daily
Exit gates close at 5.00pm.
Ticket prices: Adults $39, children (4-15) $19
TRAVEL TIP: Save 10% if you purchase the tickets online. For further information click on the Zoo's website.
It normally takes between five to six hours to drive back to Sydney. In our case, allowing for Sunday drivers, it took five and a half hours.
