Fuji Safari Park

We set out on another outing this weekend which took us to the Fuji Safari Park. It was right below the base of Mt Fuji which was about a 2 hour drive. We went on a bus with our church that left early in the morning. We arrived and found out that the bus we were riding could drive through the park amongst all the animals. So in wen the bus! There were animals everywhere and each "zone" was contained within two sets of fences. First there was the bear zone, then lion, tiger, cheetah, rhino, herbivores etc. It was a pretty long drive through the windy roads and through all the gates. The animals were super close to the buses and occasionally crossed the roads. After the drive-thru safari they parked the buses and we at lunch and roamed around the zoo part of the park. The most ridiculous thing they had there were these "Cat/dog/bunny houses." You had to pay 500 yen (~$5) per person to go in a room that was loaded with either cats, dogs, or bunnies. LC and I went into the dog house first. There was probably 30 small dogs in there, 27 of which were sleeping. So we would just go up to the dogs and pet them and talk to them. A man brought us over a min pin for some reason so I held it for a bit before offering it to LC. She said she didn't want to hold any dogs because she didn't want to get fur on herself. We pet all 35 sleeping dogs and made a move for the exit.  Later on in the day she convinced mom to take her into the Cat House. Shannon said the cats were all out of reach and they too were all sleeping. The houses however were packed with Japanese folks who were just sitting in there relaxing amongst the animals. Weird. We bought Lion waffle bites and ice cream before we left but over all we had a good time.

The token Selfie on the bus ride to the park! 

Some of us looked out the window at all the scenery...

Some of us studied the safari map to maximize our time at the park...

And others watched Frozen.

The first zone was for the bears. 

This one had an itch on his back.

This was inside the Lion zone. These buses were what you can ride on if you didn't want to risk it and take your own vehicle on the safari. These buses were shaped like animals and they caged you in to protect you. Wait a minute -- who are the animals here? The buses would stop and let you feed all the animals. 

E liked the lion zone. She let out a lot of "roooooooaaaaars."

Lions in the trees and on the roads. 

E loved it!

Check it out! 

I thought these signs were funny.... as if you anyone was going to get out of their car.

Tigers

Cheetah

Elephants

LC kept saying the Zebras were her favorite. She would always hold Dodo up to look at his wild Zebra friends in the park. 

The girls thought this giraffe was funny -- he just stood there eating and staring at us.... for a really long time.

E liked the guinea pigs... until they moved. Then she jumped and ran away. 

Checking out the grey kangaroos.

Here is our little monkey feed the monkeys. LC was a little timid at first...

But then she got the hang of it.

Cuddling Hyenas. 

Of course the girls wanted a ride on the "Princess Coach." LC named the horse Sunny. 

We were able to pet the Kangaroos! 

And then we found a little joey kangaroo with his mommy. 

E was tuckered out on the bus ride home.... phew, what a day! 

But still had enough gas left in the tanks to play at the park!