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Busch Gardens To Take Visitors On Night Safari Tours

Tribune photo by CHRIS URSO

A crash of rhinos is seen during a nighttime visit to Edge of Africa at Busch Gardens on Wednesday in Tampa.

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By TED JACKOVICS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 20, 2008

Updated: 11/20/2008 01:17 pm

TAMPA - Busch Gardens has launched a soft opening of its Serengeti Night Safari, which offers special tours on select Friday and Saturday nights to observe nighttime behaviors of hippos, rhinos, lions and hyenas.

The first tour was offered Nov. 8. The excursions, only for guests 21 or older, cost $60 a person. Available dates and reservations can be obtained by calling 1-888-800-5447, going online to www.buschgardens.com or by visiting the Adventure Tour Center at the Moroccan Village area of the park.

Guests arrive at 7 p.m. and spend the next two hours with two tour guides. They are treated to appetizers, desserts, coffee and Anheuser-Busch beverages at the Crown Colony's VIP Safari Club room during the tour and are entertained by storytellers at a campfire, public relations representative Elizabeth Bassler said.

The area is lighted only by lanterns and moonlight. Guests use night-vision monoculars and special filtered lighting to view the African animals as they ride in the tour trucks through the Serengeti Plain. The red lighting through the special glasses allows views of animals without disturbing them.

"We turn off all the lights and it feels like you're someplace else," said excursion creator Bill Street, director of education and conservation at the park. "It's about the experience and being able to share it."

Park admission is not included, but it is not required for Serengeti Night Safari.

Reporter Ted Jackovics can be reached at (813) 259-7817. Reporter Sarah Hoye contributed to this report.

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