Gunma Safari Park is a huge hit with the kids. Take the aerial off the car, shut the car windows, lock the door and head out into the wilds of Tomioka. You drive around spotting animals strolling past (or more often than not, lounging in the shade) almost close enough to reach out and touch. The park is divided into different zones with monkeys, bears, lions, buffalo, rhino, zebra, camels, deer and antelope all on display. Half way around you can park up and there is a walking area that is more like a zoo. Here you can find flamingoes, donkeys, llamas, a panther, a cheetah, white tigers, ostriches and more lions. For five hundred yen you can buys a few scraps of meat and, armed with a pair of BBQ tongs, poke bits of meat through special holes in the cages for the lions and tigers to nibble. The viewing areas include some that head under the cages so you can see a big cat right above you. After you have driven around the final few sections there is a fun fair and some restaurants at the entrance/exit. The rides are retro (part of the fear seeming to come from the age of some of the attractions) but great for kids and some of them allow children as young as 1 to ride. A fun day out.
Rufus Starbuck @rufus.starbuck
Hanging out in the mountains of Niigata. Arrived by accident and yet to leave. Seem to spend far too much time eating...
