Have you ever been to Lion Country Safari in Palm Beach, Florida? It’s jam packed with unbelievably fun things to do for children and adults. It’s a drive-through safari with hundreds of animals, but it also offers animal displays and encounters, animal feeding experiences, amusement park rides, a water playground, boat tours and dining.  It was the best of all of our favorite family-friendly parks combined into one destination. 

We started off the day with Lion Country Safaris’s drive-through wildlife preserve. It’s divided into seven sections with some of my favorite animals including antelope, lions, chimpanzees, rhinos, buffalo, zebras, giraffes, wildebeest, ostriches and gibbons. From the comfort of our vehicle, we watched the animals roaming the plains. Athena couldn’t believe how close they were to the car, and neither could I. We were in awe of the massive rhinos and marveled at the beautiful lioness as she strolled along the preserve.

After the drive-through safari, we entered the walk-through portion of the park. We expected a zoo-like experience with a giraffe feeding as the highlight but we found so much more.

We started off the tour with a few cute photo ops before heading over to the Safari Queen boat ride where we learned about the siamangs and spider monkeys that inhabit the islands of Lake Shanalee.

Then, we rode the Ferris wheel, carousel, flying elephant ride, toddler train and paddle boats. By the time we made our way to the giraffe feeding, we were already beyond impressed.

At the giraffe feeding area, we were given plenty of time to interact with the giraffes. The guide held my camera and GoPro and took photos and videos while Athena and I feed the giraffes. We were the only guests there at the time and it was more like a private encounter.

We stood eye-to-eye with two beautiful giraffes and watched as they wrapped their long, dark tongue around lettuce. I was just as much an excited kid as Athena every time the giraffe reached out its long tongue for the food. It was so exciting.

Unfortunately we didn’t bring our bathing suits because the splash area was everything Athena loves about water parks. It, alone, would have been enough to entertain her for the entire day. It has 23 different water options with changing areas and restrooms all included in the price of admission.

We did have the perfect timing for one of the 6 daily shows and watched a trainer introduce a few animals. The parrots were a highlight as they created sounds I didn’t know were possible from a bird and danced on stage. The fans under the canopy kept us cool while we watched the show and it was very interactive with participation from the audience. Athena was called on to feed a skink and she was able to pet it at the end of the show.

We interacted with sheep and goats at the Petting Zoo and rode a camel nearby. What don’t they offer?

I was even surprised that the food was reasonably priced and once you purchased a drink, refills were included all day.

As I write down all of the adventure we had today, it’s like we visited ten different places but it all happened at Lion Country Safari. Palm Beach offers way more than I expected for families. I could cross off a full year of bucket list items here.