For Bianca’s birthday, I took her to the zoo. This was not just any outing, but a visit to Monarto Safari Park, the largest Safari Park outside of Africa located just 50 minutes from Adelaide.
Overview
After a short drive on the freeway, we turned off at the small town of Monarto and headed down a straight road to the zoo entrance. The new entrance and visitor center opened in March 2022, and this was our first visit to the updated facility. Located at the northern end of the expansive park, the visitor center features a cafeteria and facilities. This serves as the starting point for the coach trip that circumnavigates the park. Once we entered the zoo, we were able to skip the queues by using our pre-purchased ticket.
We noticed that coaches ran every 15 minutes, but a large group had just arrived before us. So we decided to walk to the first drop-off point.
Since the weather was cool and occasionally rainy, we wore our thick coats to shield ourselves from the brisk winds. Once inside, there were no further ticket requirements or queues, allowing us to wander freely in any direction. Our first walk of about 2 kilometres helped clear our heads and stretch our legs. We checked out the cheetah enclosure before joining the next coach.
Meerkats – Chimpanzees
The coach was hosted and narrated by a volunteer safari guide, who expertly shared insights about the wildlife, African animals, and the park’s design. Our first leg on the coach took us to “The Outpost,” which is actually the old visitor center. This location, once the hub of activity, offers plenty of facilities, including a restaurant, children’s playground, and restrooms. Here, we also found the meerkats, porcupines, rock wallabies, and chimpanzees.
While we could have had an experience with the meerkats, we chose instead to simply watch them play. Their instinct is to climb high and survey for predators, a behavior they maintain even in their secure enclosures. Some of the enclosures feature tunnels that allow them to indulge their natural instincts to dig underground.
Shandu the Buried Rhino
After spotting a wild emu crossing our path with its seven chicks, we encountered a fiberglass sculpture of a rhinoceros lying on its back, half-buried in the ground. This sculpture, named Shandu the Buried Rhino, is the largest rhino sculpture in the world. It was originally part of the 2016 Sculpture by the Sea exhibition in Sydney before being relocated to Monarto. The name “Shandu,” which means “change” in South Africa, perfectly suits its new home, where it soaks up the sun between the yellow-footed rock wallabies and the chimpanzees.
We then moved onto the chimpanzees, who occupied a spacious area filled with toys and ropes. The male chimps were outside, playfully engaging with their platforms and swings. We followed the raised walkway to peek into the monkey house, where the females and younger monkeys were lounging indoors. The adorable babies and adolescents were playfully annoying their mothers, highlighting the similarities between our species. When a keeper arrived and tossed out food, the females rushed into the main enclosure to access their little food capsules, creating a flurry of activity that was a joy to watch from the viewing platforms.
Black Rhino – White Rhino
We consulted the map and realized we could skip the crowds by walking from the chimpanzees to the zebra and black rhino enclosures, bypassing the red deer, Przewalski’s horse, and American bison. This walk gave us extra time to observe the incredible black rhinoceros up close.
We then boarded the next coach, which took us past an empty enclosure that the guide informed us was being prepared for elephants. Several elephants are set to join Monarto Zoo from Perth and New Zealand. Our guide mentioned that they use military aircraft to transport these massive animals.
We hopped off at the Waterhole, which featured another restaurant and facilities.
We returned to the coach and spotted a flock of ostriches with their chicks. Each chick stood about a meter tall, still cute and fluffy. We then circled the waterhole to see the giraffes and eland deer. The giraffes, gathered in a herd, were magnificent and enormous, and Bianca was thrilled to see them up close as the coach passed by.
As we drove past some old ruins of original buildings, our guide shared insights about the region’s rural past. The road then wound around to the next enclosure.
Interestingly, the Southern White Rhinoceros isn’t actually white; the African word for “wide” sounds similar to “white,” referring to the wide-mouthed version of this giant beast. We learned that the white rhino is near threatened, with only about 15,000 remaining in the wild, while the black rhino is critically endangered, with only around 3,000 left.
Next, we arrived at the cheetah enclosure, where a lone female was kept separate from the group of males to reflect their natural living arrangements.
Cats & Dogs
Our coach then entered the big cat enclosure to see the lions. Their habitat is larger than the entire Adelaide Zoo, including its parking area, with an additional 20 hectares left over. This gives the lions plenty of rolling savannah to explore. Monarto offers a unique experience called “Lions 360“, a domed enclosure where lions are encouraged to approach the cage and even climb onto the roof to be fed by paying guests. As we drove past the dome, we spotted a pride of female lions lounging in the sun.
Next, we visited the enclosure for African painted dogs and hyenas. Our guide informed us that hyenas are very successful hunters, and we enjoyed watching them relax in the sunshine.
That marked the end of Bianca’s birthday trip to the zoo. We hope to return someday, especially when the elephants have arrived, and perhaps even stay at the hotel currently under construction on the edge of the park.
