@iamyohann and I came up with a plan to surprise our daughter with a day at a safari. We heard about this place in Carmen during casual conversations with friends and decided to book entrance tickets online.
Carmen is a province approximately an hour to about an hour and a half drive north of Cebu City, located south of the Philippines. This meant around 5 hours drive for us since we are based in the southern part of the province.
We woke up at 4 am and by 4:30 am we were on the road. Anais, our daughter had no idea where we were going. Throughout the 5-hour car journey, "Where are we going?" and "Are we there yet?" echoed from the backseat in every municipality we passed.
Check out this video of our day trip there and how the surprise went:
Since the park is massive, I'll be dividing my blog post into 3 parts: The first part will cover the booking information and the safari, the second part will feature animals that could be seen along the guided trails, and the third one, its breathtaking gardens.
Cebu Safari and Adventure Park
Cebu Safari and Adventure Park is the premier safari destination and considered the biggest zoological park in the Philippines. This 170-hectare property sprawls on the scenic hills of Carmen.
According to the official site, it features more than a thousand animals from 120 different species.
Its vision is to provide a world-class safari and adventure park for fun and learning and to create a sanctuary where guests could retreat and harmonize with the environment. While doing so, the park aims to highlight the importance of protecting biodiversity and to promote the understanding and appreciation of nature.
It offers a safari tour in an African Savannah and a walking trail through a mind-blowing collection of about 1 million orchids of different kinds.
The Park's History
Some said that it used to be a private zoo of the Lhuilliers, one of the wealthiest families in the Philippines that hail from Cebu. They run the biggest pawnshop and money-remittance in the Philippines.
Digging deeper into the park's story, it was born from the passion of Michel Lhuillier and his dream of becoming a farmer.
He eyed Carmen as a potential spot for his passion project and with successful coordination with the town mayor, they planted Gemelina and Mahogany trees throughout the area. It used to be a place where he raised his horses along with a poultry farm until the inspiration came from San Diego Zoo to develop the rest of the land into a natural habitat to preserve endangered species while bringing the San Diego Zoo concept to the country.
Park Schedule
It is open daily from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM
African Savannah is open from 10:00 AM to 3:30 PM
Bird Show plays at 1:45 PM from Wednesdays to Saturdays and an additional morning show on Sunday.
White Lion Safari is open from 9:00 Am to 12:00 PM and 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM on Wednesday to Sunday.
White Bengali Tiger is open daily from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM (closed from 11:00 AM to 12 noon)
Orange Bengal Tiger is open daily from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM (closed from 12 noon to 3:00 PM)
Safari Tour and Packages
There are many travel packages to choose from.
The basic package A costs Php 800 per person (approx. USD 16.50) includes:
- One-day admission to the Park
- Access to all animal areas
- African Savannah Tour
- Bird Show
- Michel's Garden
- Gardens of the World
- Safari Tram Ride
We selected Php 900 Package B - Wild Attractions Plus which is an upgrade to the basic package with an addition of the White Lion Safari.
For adventure junkies, they have ATV, Zip Line, Sky Bike, and Giant Swing as part of the Wildest Package Tour. As much as I wanted to do this, we had a child with us with no one to look after so we skipped this option.
I, however, spotted a children's area perhaps planned as a daycare facility where children can spend some time while the adults run free lol but it was closed during our visit.
How Much and How to Book Online
Please note that park schedules and prices are subject to change.
We highly suggest booking in advance to skip the queue due to the limited entry per day due to Covid-19. We purchased the tickets online here a week prior to our scheduled date. We received a Health Checklist Form to fill up which we submitted upon entry after a quick medical check at the desk near the parking area.
There's a huge parking facility for private vehicles near the Welcome Pavilion with access to toilets, souvenir shops, and other dining facilities.
Here, as shown in the video, we were taken by tram to the Basecamp which serves as a tram stop for the activities.
White Lion Safari
This was one of the highlights of our tour as we rode the safari vehicle with a glass panel to view the white lions. There were three of them, all males and we watched this playful troop or "pride" in the wild.
We had a guide who thoroughly answered all of our questions. It was impressive and quite exhilarating to be there.
The African Savannah
After the White Lion Safari, we took an open safari tram to view gazelles, oryx, eland, zebras, waterbucks, blesbok, greater kudu, impala, gemsbok, and wildebeest. Our guide enthusiastically briefed us on interesting information about each animal that we spotted.
Breeding and Research Center
To promote wildlife conservation is an established breeding and research center at the center of the park. They focus on bird park breeding and we spotted some eggs incubated. It is overseen by a veterinarian and a wildlife reserve aviculture specialist.
The BRC Nursery
Where to Eat
Outside food and drinks are not allowed inside the park but there are multiple food outlets, cafes, and food kiosks strategically positioned at well-thought-out points. There's Mr. Potato and Auntie Anne's for pretzels, coffee, and lemonade.
The Outpost offers burgers, hotdogs, rice meals, fries, snacks, and cold drinks.
Michaelangelo's Pizzeria was where we chose to have lunch. It has pizza, pasta, and other rice meals. It needs further improvement on the speed of service though. We only ordered a tray of pizza but two customers who arrived much later than we did, received theirs way before ours.
We also spotted this cafe at a junction with a convenience store.
An important tidbit to note is that the park is a non-smoking zone.
My Takeaway
I personally don't support zoos and animals in captivity but...yes a big "but".
This park is huge, however, and unlike any other zoos I have visited, these animals seem well looked after. The existence of a breeding and research center inside the park is reassuring.
The only exception to this was the sadness exuded by the male orangutan who seemed to have given up on life. I couldn't bring myself to take a picture of him.
I couldn't imagine the number of costs of maintaining and managing such a high-scale passion project especially during the pandemic. The landscape design that went with it and the continuous development and improvements are indeed world-class. Impeccably maintained and clean, I highly recommend it.
I will end the first part here for now. Next week, I'll show you the guided walking trails and the other activities inside this breathtaking park.
Thank you for reading!
To be continued...
