Hermes Petronus from Vanguard Capri Parks here again to present the latest jewel in our crown: Outback Safari Park.

We’re just stepping out of the hotel and are going to give this tour as we go along. While this isn’t the main entrance to the building it’s the most often used.

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I could do with another coffee and as this is an impromptu tour I’m not that sure where we should head right this minute. To our left at the west of the park are most of the rides and our food & shopping plaza.

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To the east are the pool and the pool shops. In stepping away from the building to make up my mind I thought it a good idea to take a shot of this area.

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I’m a bit hungry so I think we’ll head west. But before we go our safari ride is right behind me. All our safari vehicles are electric so there’s a minimum of noise to disturb nearby animals. This is the same reason we use mylar balloons in our park rather than latex ones.

Notwithstanding these precautions animal sightings are sometimes not as frequent as we’d like around our hotel. However most guests arrive intending to spend a few days camping in the surrounding grounds out where the animals can be more easily seen and can be seen in greater numbers. Most guests hike out for a few days of roughing it and others will take one of the electric vehicles out for a day trip or a picnic. This is dangerous country to someone who doesn’t respect nature so if the guest is not actually checking out through front desk, no one leaves the premises without at least one of our guides.

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As you see the animals that do live near the hotel are quite tame. We’ve been having infrequent problems with this area in the electronic fencing and this giraffe actually spent a moment scratching itself against the jeep before it became uncomfortable enough with the fencing and walked away. I’ve got to make a call to the mechanics and then … it’s safari tour time.

Here it seems one of the horses is having a race with a giraffe but we know that’s not really what’s going on … or is it?

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In addition to the electronic fencing our animal feeders also ensure the animals in the area are well fed and have easy access to plenty of water. This serves as further insurance against suddenly finding that some of them have braved the electronic fence to use the pool, and this also minimizes concerns about animals helping themselves to food the guests are eating.

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We’re just about to pass swinging inverter on the right and in the distance are flying carousel, parachute drop and sky sling which I’ll show you soon.

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There is our relaxing eating area on the right, also to be seen later.

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As you see we’ll soon be returning to the safari tour access platform.


While I’m waiting for a colleague who’s coming along in this next tour car I’ll show you a photo of our Ferris wheel which is near to where I got off the safari tour.

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I’ve been wanting to try this ride and the queue is now not all that long so that’s what I’ll do.

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And there’s our merry-go-round and the motion simulator but they can’t be seen very well from here.

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Let’s get up closer and see.

There we are, a better view of the merry-go-round and more of our hotel to be seen in this image as well.

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The merry-go-round queue isn’t too bad right now but let’s give it a pass.

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And here at our right is the simulator ride.

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And moments later we’ve arrived at the food and shops area where I’ll collect a coffee …

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and have something to eat from our grill.

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There are a fair number of guests in the area considering lunch is more than an hour away.

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I’m on my way to the seating. The breakfast menus have been wound down for the day so I’ve got a choice of where to sit.

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This is a really good spot to linger whether for a meal or a snack as it’s relaxing for the body and restorative for the mind. Available for refreshment are hot and cold drinks, a moderate selection of our famous international frozen treats, dainty cakes & pastries, and the grill where sandwiches are also served.

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The colleague I met up with earlier took this shot while on safari tour and we include it here to give a better idea of the appearance of this part of the park.

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And here is our shopping area.

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Here can be found cameras, toys, candy & snacks, postcards, a selection of clothing, and souvenir trophies.

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There's always terrific weather out here in our park and today is no exception.

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And now it’s out of this area towards our rides ...

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... where we have the ever popular sky sling, while further along there is parachute drop.

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This was originally intended to be the main entrance of the hotel but very late in the hotel’s construction we became more concerned with the animals being disturbed in their environment and decided that guests would arrive at the property via underground rail. At the time we made this choice excavation for the pool had just begun so we simply dug the pool area deeper, built a station and hotel reception at that level, joined this to the main building and built the pool over the top of that.

The biggest challenge during this time was getting the tunnel bored safely and quickly, after which the animals stayed away from the area for weeks.

Our rail cars have wheels coated in composite which need changing weekly. The rail beds are insulated for sound. Guests arrive at the park through a small facility a couple of miles away in the hills nearby where there is a small airstrip, landing pads, garages and temporary accommodation should it be needed if we’re experiencing difficulties with the train. However, out here near the hotel we use our helicopters and gasoline powered engines as little as possible.

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In that direction is our swinging inverter.

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We’ll have a quick look-see at parachute drop.

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And again I’ve stepped out onto the wrong side of the electronic fencing to get this shot of the flying carousel.

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I guess it’s true, rhinos do have bad vision. I was standing very still with my elbow on the rock while lining up my shot and my being so close to it he must have thought I was a part of the rock.

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Here some colleagues and I are enjoying a ride on flying carousel.

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And this is the third access to our hotel and is the quietest area on the property. Our pool is in the background. This shot was taken while riding the flying carousel.

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Following are two more shots taken of the same area from ground level.

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The queue for swinging inverter is in this area.

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And there’s swinging inverter.

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From the same spot, here is an image facing north, towards our pool.

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Here are our pool shops.

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Available here are sun shades, swim wear, sun & skin care products, and inflatables.

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Our entertainers do a brilliant job entertaining the guests.

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I don’t want to detract from their enjoyment and make my way through this crowd just yet so I’ll divert our tour for a moment.

This is a shot of the hotel access we originally came out of at the beginning of our tour. While standing on the pool fence I’m holding onto the access pergola with one hand and taking the photo with the other.

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Some of the crowd has moved on now and this is the quieter of the two entrances so we’ll go in here.

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We’re all pleased with the great work our architects, decorators and designers did for this park. Our guests’ obvious enjoyment seen in a shot like this makes me glad we have such a team on board.

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The pool is usually very busy but right now this corner is a quiet area.

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I can never resist a good shot. Here I’ve stepped over the decorative fencing to take additional photos.

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And of course, once I get started …

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I was just having some success in getting this horse close enough to pet him when the elephant came to investigate. Although I got over into the trees, trees are nothing to an elephant that wants to get at you so after I got here I had to do some fast stepping trying to stay invisible rather than being noticeable. I’m only wearing swim trunks so I’m finding it easy to blend.

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Our feeders and keepers are specially trained to get along with animals but I don’t have that knowledge so I’ve come out over this way pretty much at my own risk today.

I’m not feeling so lucky any more so … a dash back to my side of the electronic fence …

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I noticed while approaching this area that the trees make a nice frame for what’s going on behind so I took advantage of a couple more photo opportunities.

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I felt badly stepping back over that pool fence with dusty bare feet but here I am.

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One of my colleagues took this photo of me and shared this shot with some of us later that day.

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More fun in the sun.

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After getting all those photos I think I’ll recline on one of the lounges and just tune out for awhile.

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And now to exit the pool.

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Our colleague in this shark suit is so full of energy I can almost imagine him smiling underneath his costume.

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Now is probably the time to wind down this tour and I’m thinking about returning to my suite. While considering this I look up and …



… more photo opportunities.

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We threw the park open to Vanguard Capri staff for a week prior to opening it to the public. This seems to be a good time to include some of the file photos we took of the park during Team Complementary Week.



The balconied glass tower is comprised of one, two, and three bedroomed suites.







In the lower part of the building is administration, support services and a few shops.

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I took this photo this morning from my balcony while revving up for the day with my coffee.

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This photo I took also from my balcony just before heading downstairs. I stepped on the balcony out of the air conditioning to see what it was like outdoors at this time.

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Here’s another shot, also of the pool, from the fifth floor wrap-around veranda. At this level in the hotel there is a lounge, restaurant and bar.

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This is a file photo of our veranda, taken when the building was nearly ready.



But as you see, we’re very much ready now.




Until next time … goodbye.

Whoa(jaw falls off skull).
You got MAD skills!

this looks great, can't believe that this got ignored. it has some great detail, and an interesting concept