Recently, in the middle of May, I was invited to take my family to the Ramat Gan Safari, free of charge. This was an initiative spearheaded by some bureaucratic branch of the IDF, aiming to “give back” to civilians like myself who partake in active reserve duty. Since I had served a 16-day stint in the previous calendar year, I qualified for some quality time with the safari animals, free of charge and complete with free food and activities for the children.

Aiming to align our visit with our son Amir’s nap schedule, we only headed over in the mid-afternoon – but thankfully, we only live a few kilometres away, so the drive was decidedly quick. Arriving in our new-to-us Honda Civic, soldiers ushered us in and we began to drive through the safari segment of the park. I had been wanting to visit the safari for quite some years, and couldn’t wait to see what lay in store for us.

The first of the animals to be seen were a variety of herbivores, primarily giant elands and Thomson’s gazelles – a scene straight out of Africa. Some plains zebras and local spur-winged lapwings dotted the landscape too, keeping with the strict colour scheme of black, brown and white. A white rhinoceros or two added some grey to the mix, although the real colour was yet to come.

I snapped pictures here and there as we drove through the safari’s paved network of roads, hoping to spot something interesting. Some of the animals ventured relatively close by, some dashed out in front of the cars and some avoided us altogether. We kept hoping for something to be right up alongside the car, like one sees from Kruger and other parks, so that Amir would really get a good look with his little eyes. That animal was a plains zebra of sorts, can’t be too sure of the subspecies without more intensive research, and Amir got a good look as it ambled off.

An upcoming watering hole held promise as I spotted both crowned cranes and marabou storks at the water’s edge. I’ve always been amused by marabou storks and it was so nice to finally see one semi-free, standing ominously with the grim appearance of a plague doctor-cum-undertaker. Some great white pelicans on the road seized our attention next, and suddenly one of the nondescript dirty lumps in the pond’s centre began to move – hippos!

Greater flamingos danced in the background, flashing their rosy pink accents and brightening up the scene, a scene that was becoming more and more African. A handful of wildebeests and scimitar oryxes were seen next, mingling with the plains zebras and Thomson’s gazelles. As we progressed towards the lion enclosure, we began to see other species such as kudus and an undetermined species of giraffe.

At last we reached the lion enclosure, protected by a double gate and manned watchtowers. We rolled up our windows and entered, peering about here and there in search of the yellow-furred predators. It was a relatively small enclosure so it didn’t take long before we found a pride of African lions lounging about the grassy hillock that was flanked by the paved road. A maned male was making some moves on one of the females, but it was atrociously difficult to take decent pictures through the glass.

With the rest of the lions in late afternoon stupor, we rolled on out with the rest of the cars and headed for the zoo section of the safari. Parking and entering by foot, we saw that the IDF reservist day event had practically taken over the park. We were handed water bottles and found tables of pastries just begging to be eaten. Amir chewed on a croissant as we headed for the animal enclosures, starting with the distinctly Australian kangaroos.

We moved on to African wild dogs and a variety of different primate species, including mandrills and baboons with their delightful seat cushions. In between the animal enclosures we found the time to get some popcorn and cotton candy (Bracha’s favourite), and then introduced Amir to some peacocks for educational and amusement purposes. We posed here and there, but for some reason Amir wasn’t having as much fun as we were, as the photos showed.

A quick stop at the playground, and some rejuvenating minutes on the swing, pumped new energy into Amir and Bracha alike. We moved on to the meerkats – such fun little creatures, an absolute joy to be around. One final stop at the Nile crocodile enclosure, where a behemoth of a lizard laid placid at the edge of a small murky pool, and we felt like we had seen enough.

It wasn’t that the zoo wasn’t nice – I was rather pleased by the leafy abundance all over, something that lended to a more natural feeling, despite the fences and cages. Certainly, it was more impressive than the Haifa Educational Zoo which Bracha and I had visited a year prior, but in the end it is still just a zoo.

For nature lovers, there feels to be something lacking when seeing the animals cooped up as such, even if these same animals can’t be reintroduced to the wild for many valid reasons. Nonetheless, I’m happy that I finally had the chance to visit the local safari, but with the same breath, I’m happy it was free.