I reached my room very late after the previous day’s cruise dinner. So, I woke up late. My programme for today is a visit to Safari Marine Park (Safari World). I dressed up as fast as I could and went downstairs and got into a taxi to go to the park. The park is at a distance of 30 km from the Palace Hotel where I stayed. The entrance to the park itself is quite royal, ochre coloured and resembling the architectural style that the Mughals used for building forts. On the top of the fort-like model, ‘Safari Park’ is beautifully engraved. I passed through the entrance and reached the building where car tickets are available. This is where I understood one of the disadvantages of getting up late.
The park is divided into 2 themes– Safari World and Marine Park. The Safari World is an open animal park. Safari is conducted only twice a day, in the morning and evening. When I reached there, the morning Safari time was over. I was told that I need to wait till evening to get into the next one. Now, the only possible thing to do is to visit the Marine Park first and go for the Safari afterwards.
The Safari World together with the Marine Park covers 480 acres of land. The park is open from 8.00 am to 7.00 pm. The ticket price is 600 Baht which is around 1250 Rupees. I purchased the ticket and entered inside. Along with the ticket, I was given a map of the park. The variety of things to be seen in the park, the show timings and sites of shows, the points where restaurants can be found and the routes to all these spots are clearly shown in the map. The surroundings were all brimming with natural beauty. Mainly, there are 4 to 5 shows in the park – Orang Utan Show, Sea Lion Show, Cowboy Stunt Show, Spy War Show, Dolphin Show, Bird Show, etc.
When I arrived, the Orang Utan show was just about to start. So, I decided to see that. It was an open stage. Orang Utans behaving like human beings, driving a jeep, playing musical instruments, boxing, rope acrobatics, etc. are some of the amazing performances that are displayed. An Orang Utan lies on the boxing ring floor acting as if injured, 2 other Orang Utans come in with a stretcher and take the one lying on the floor; suddenly, the Orang Utan which was acting to be injured got up and started attacking the others. This was one of the funniest shows and it lasted 20 minutes. Then, I went to watch the Sea Lion Show. This is also held in an open stadium, in the premises of a beautiful lake. It is too cute to watch them playing with balls, jumping through rings, dancing to music, etc.
Both children and adults will like it for sure. I next went on to see the exhilarating Cowboy show which most of us have read about or seen in movies. The show brings you straight into a beautifully created old English countryside and cowboy stunts are displayed live as taking place in the village and on the village roads. Gunfights, life-threatening stunts, and comedy shown are as exciting as in films. Spy War Show is another visual extravaganza. The show takes place in the big rocks in front of the gallery. There is a river down the rock.
As I didn’t have the time to watch the subsequent shows, I strolled around the park and took some photos. Australian Kangaroos, Hummingbirds, different species of Swans, Chinese houses, fountains, etc. seen in the background of the greenery of the forests are some of the breathtaking sights one should not miss out. Marine Park is a wonderland.
Since the Safari Park was opened to visitors at that time, I got into the car. We can go in our own vehicles or get a ride in a coach provided by Safari Park but it will be charged separately. The next part of this article will be dealing with my ride in the Safari Park.
