Going on safari, just an hour from home

Some will say “how cheesy,” and I might have agreed with them.

I have several friends, and a daughter, who recently have returned from African safaris. That is on my bucket list.

But, real safaris take two weeks or more, time I do not have now for various reasons.

So, yes, my wife and I went to Savannah Sunset Resort and Spa, a  faux African resort, located in the 350-acre Wild Safari operation inside the sprawling Six Flags Great Adventure theme park, a little more than an hour northeast of Philly. 

It is the third season for the resort, which was launched to upgrade the 52-year-old park with a high-end, immersive wildlife experience not available elsewhere in the Northeast.

Our decision was made less for the animal experience — although we are both animal lovers — and more for a romantic weekend getaway in advance of our second wedding anniversary.

Six Flags is open seasonally, currently just on weekends. We were there last weekend and we battled cold weather and sporadic rain.

Nevertheless, we had the opportunity to observe some 1,200 animals, representing 70 species from six continents. The experience does not come cheap.

We opted for the two-night package that includes a truck tour, and allows you to order a VIP tour (for an additional $89.99 per person). We booked it.

That was $792.18 per night for a 2-person tent, not counting dinner, drinks, tips and other incidentals. 

The tent is quite spacious, heavy-duty, imported from South Africa and assembled in New Jersey like a Lego, I was told.

We had a wonderfully comfortable king-size bed. Queen and twins also are available and may change the room rate.

This vacation is clearly for high-end customers, although you can skip the overnight stay and get a truck tour for $29 for adults. A $120 per person  VIP tour is sometimes offered.

Food was a disappointment. 

Breakfast is included, with about six entree choices, from french toast to a fried skillet dish, plus choice of beverage — coffee or juice. (A free coffeemaker is provided  in your tent.)

Dinner specials last weekend were a tasty and large New York strip steak, and an excellent salmon.The calamari appetizer seemed flash frozen, and other entree choices — burger, salad, buffalo wings, and flaccid flatbread pizza, were equal parts uninspired and unhealthy. We spent almost $200 for dinner one night (including four alcoholic drinks), and $50 the next night, when we ate light.

Lunch is not included and you can’t easily leave the resort to eat outside. When you arrive, you park your car in a distant lot and a van takes you and your luggage to the camp. You need a ride back to your car.

The snack and gift shop is called Resort Services, and is supposed to be open 24/7. (You are not permitted to bring outside food into your tent). The snack shop has little more than potato chips, nuts, and a few other cholesterol builders and heart stoppers. Not even prepared sandwiches.  Did I say 24/7? It was closed two of the four times I tried to buy something.

For what it charges, Savannah Sunset needs food of better quality and variety, including some offerings that you might find on the African continent. If they can prepare different food for all the animals, why not for the humans?

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This is called “glamping,” as in “glamour camping.” A typical tent is about 20 by 20, air-conditioned, heated, with a flush commode, stall shower, writing desk, chairs and a very large-screen TV loaded with streaming services and movies, movies, movies — but not a single news channel. Maybe not a problem for you, but it was for me.

The king-size bed was a delight, and it was curious to feel the walls of the room moving, because the walls are canvas. 

There are 20 tents available, each with a deck, and from ours we could view the antics of some of the antlered and horned residents of the Serengeti Grasslands.

Staying at the resort includes admission to the Great Adventure theme parks and rides, but we weren’t interested in that.

Glamping grew out of campers asking to  be allowed to camp overnight at Wild Safari. That worked, and it led to the permanent tents. A hotel may be in the resort’s future.

OK — you are not on the Serengeti, but most of the animals are free to roam, and the resort says no contact is permitted (which is strictly regulated in New Jersey), and the animals are never forced to do anything. 

They can, however, be bribed with food treats, which is how disinterested giraffes can be rounded up for the fun feeding events. Guests are handed sweet potato slivers to feed the giraffes, which are as gentle as they are huge.

When we made reservations for two nights, we were warned that operations — and animal accessibility — are weather dependent. With the caution came the option of changing our dates. 

I give Savannah 5 stars for communication, mostly by text.

A couple of days before our arrival, they texted to say rain was expected on Saturday, our full day, and they offered us the option of rebooking for another weekend.

That was really thoughtful, but since we were mostly interested in getting away for the weekend, we didn’t back out — and most of the rain missed the park. 

One side note: Every single staffer we encountered — Bella, Liz, Bridgette, Shimera, Paddy — were extremely courteous and caring, even when it was me showing up with a complaint about something or other. Second to the animals, they were the best thing about the resort.

The animals. Both Half Pint and I like animals, a lot. 

We respect them. 

There are two types of tours.

The truck tours are mostly renovated Afghan war personnel carriers, which might hold two dozen people. The VIP tour might be in a Mercedes van or — if you’re lucky — an SUV.

We were lucky as there were only two other couples at the resort and neither showed up for the tour, so we had Paddy, an educated and entertaining  guide, to ourselves. 

Like the truck tour, the VIP vehicle winds through areas of the park devoted to collections of animals from different parts of the world — Tigris Asiana, Didgeradoo Pass, Black Bear Ridge, Afrikka, Kingsland, etc.

Lions, and tigers, and bears, oh my.

We saw them all.

Plus elephants and rhinos and ostriches up close — with the 8-foot tall African bird the most likely to attack.

Close your eyes a bit and it’s not hard to imagine yourself in Africa. 

During the day, the animals are out, most of them free to roam and mingle. Mostly, they grazed, with occasional bursts of energy.

As part of our VIP tour — which stopped briefly at an exhibit of snakes and lizards at base camp — we got to feed Lucy and Barbara, the African elephants who have been at the park since its opening in 1974. The elephants were behind a barrier, and we were 15 feet away, but able to throw apple and orange quarters and carrots that they were able to find with their very flexible trunks. This you could not do on a “real” safari.

The one “extra” that all guests experience is feeding the giraffes, at an elevated feeding station that happened to be right next to our tent.

The giraffes pretty much know when to show up, and if some are reluctant, they are enticed by a ranger in a vehicle waving succulent branches for them to follow to the station.

The ranger with us addressed each giraffe by name, and explained that each has a distinct personality. They ate directly from our hands, but we were urged not to pet them as “they don’t like that.”

None of the guests did that, and all enjoyed being that close to, well, wildlife.

It was kind of thrilling, too, to be in a car just a few feet from several large rhinos, which can be brutally dangerous; or the much less dangerous, but more numerous, bison, who stopped traffic while lumbering across the road.

To summarize, it is not a real safari. From what I’ve heard, it is more comfortable, and an outing that can be affordable if you skip the glamping and just take the tours.