What better way to take a break from work and enjoy another expedition? Technically, it’s not as some sort of long and hourly trip you might be thinking of. Instead, it took us only about 15 minutes. Yes you guys, fifteen minutes from our place (in Susono Shizuoka). The Fuji Safari Park located at the foot of the glorious Mt. Fuji is as jungle – like as it sounds. You can get there by car or by tourist bus which I think is much convenient for those of you who are not familiar around the place ( you can check their bus schedule on their website).
Different from conventional zoos, this park occupies a vast hectare of land where wild and domesticated animals can free themselves in the entire space (like that of a real African Safari). You get to see them in real up close since you can go around the park by your own car (which what we did). You can also rent a car if you want but the only thing is that you can never and should never get out from your car or open your windows since animals are not caged or fenced. Scary but really interesting!
They also let you feed them up close through riding the Safari Bus which is a caged vehicle that will tour you around while stopping for some feeding rounds. Animals seem to know what to do next and they just get close to the bus for the food (don’t worry they won’t bite you) lol. If you fantasized about petting and feeding lions, bears or any wild animals for that matter, then this place will give you that chance!
As much as I would like to go all smarty and name you all the animals in the Park, there are just too many of them that we even ran out of thoughts naming them. Although they are sectioned by species and kind, they have indeed plenty of space, shelter and food that would make you feel you are a foreign to their territory. There are instances that some animals get all curious about the cars and they would go around licking and prying over the windows but don’t be alarm, their are roving zoo staff to keep them away.
If you are someone who is not into wild animals, then don’t worry you are still welcome here. There are tons of animal houses you can check out for 500 yen and enjoy the peace of petting them. There’s a horse and donkey riding area, rabbit house, cat house, dog house etc. Of course, how can I ever miss the chance of trying out on them? We first went to the classic theme house for cats that is big enough for more than 50 cats plus people coming in and out. If you are a cat lover yourself, well definitely this is your dream house to be!
I both love cats and dogs so to be fair enough we also checked the House of Dogs. It’s incredibly spacious inside where you can either sit and get intimate with all these lovable and cuddly creatures or take pictures with them and play some catch.
After all our furry adventures, we simply head on for some souvenir shopping and grabbed a bite in the park’s restaurants and food area where you can sit and just enjoy the green and mountain view surrounding you.
P.S. I took this picture inside the House of Cats and thought what best words to caption this? 🙂
