Lion Country Safari, 1973

Sue B. sent me some scans of photo prints, pictures that her dad (Lou Perry) took at Lion Country Safari, a drive-through safari park located outside Irvine, California, which opened in 1970. Allowing guests to drive their own vehicles through open enclosures, it was the first cageless safari park of its kind to open in southern California. I visited LCS once or twice when I was a kid, it was always a fun thing to do.I suppose Southern California made for a pretty good simulation of the African veldt, all the critters seemed very at-home. You could just tell! In the distance, trucks with campers, station wagons, and other vehicles move slowly along the roadway, everyone is hoping that one of the animals will come right up to their car!Like this ostrich. What a goofy bird! But how often do you get to see one right outside your vehicle window? No more than four or five times a year, typically. Lou was aboard a bus, apparently - perhaps certain bus lines offered tours of LCS? Maybe Sue…