How do you feel about Buffalo slime, petting felted antlers and seeing flocks of tiny baby Emus running next to your car?

If you got excited then the Johnson City Exotic Zoo Safari is FOR YOU!!!

We were looking for something that was outdoor, COVID proof and exciting and so we booked the Exotic Zoo Safari in Johnson City.

Boy were we PLEASED!

It was a 10/10 experience for us. We went in the early morning before it was too hot and made sure to purchase a $6 bag of feed for each of us. The bags were huge lunch sacks full of feed and the animals FLOCKED to the car. We probably had 30-40 deer surrounding the car as we drove 2 mph through the park.

There were new animal babies everywhere which was extra special to see. If you’ve never seen baby Emus then you feel like you’re transported into Jurassic Park. These little things would run around the feet of the deer and seriously looked like little Velociraptor babies.

The drive through the park had several different cattle guards to pass through separating certain types of animals. There were Zebras, Camels, Deer, Emu, Ostrich, Buffalo, Llamas, Rams, Water Buffalo and many other types of animals.

The kids (and I… who am I kidding?) squealed with delight the entire time as we tried luring the animals farther into the car for a closer photo.

The boys kept saying “This is the BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!!!” over and over and you know what, it is definitely one of my best days too. I’ve always loved animals and have never had this kind of up close encounter with so many of them. It was such a fun experience!

Ticket prices are $16.95/each and the bags of feed are $6/each. It took us about 45 minutes to get through the safari and we had almost run out of feed by the end (so get a lot of bags of feed- we had a total of 5). Here is their website for more information. They have cabins and a petting zoo available also, but the drive-through was the main attraction open due to COVID.

Until our next adventure…