It's amazing how you can live in a place for a long while and somehow not discover some of the wonderful attractions in the area. Such was our reaction after a recent visit to Sharkarosa Wildlife Ranch! Since all of us live in such a fast-paced, digital time, this was an opportunity to take it slow, re-learn, and exclaim: "Wow!". Maybe it was the time of year (lucky us) since we were treated to baby camels (one white, one brown) and itty-bitty baby lemurs. Take your kids there and be a kid yourself. It's worth your time.
This is a fun little place, that I didn't even know exhisted, even though it's only 30 minutes from my house. I got a Groupon that gave us half off, and it was a fun, cheap little trip. We rode the barrel train, got to see the zorses, and got to feed some animals. We also took a safari bus ride, and got to pet a camel. They even have a little restaurant, tho we ran out of time so we didn't get to go in.
The tour ride was the highlight. You can touch the horses, camels and few others. Interesting mixed breeds, we saw donkey/zebra and hourse/zebra, beautiful animals. Our instructor was awesome, he educated us along with answering all of our questions. Our 19 mos old enjoyed this so much and we did too! Would love to visit again. One thing to keep in mind....if you buy from a website that advertises, call the establishment first and most likely will match the price and so 100% of the proceeds will go towards the animals.
My family and I tried to go during the week in the summer! Guess what it is CLOSED!!! You can only go on the weekend. We had driven with my parents from NM and our kids because it is SUMMER!! Best time to be open. They only allow for daycare kids to see the animals during the week. HUGE Disappointment!!
We took two kindergarten age kids to this awesome place. They were very friendly and engaging. The many different species of animals was impressive they are all living amongst each other right in our back yards! The animals were well taken care of as far as we could tell... They even had favorite employees. There was a tram ride that was guided and lead by way of a tractor that allowed us to get up close and personal with the camels, horses, zebras, & other animals we could see from a distance. They are very informative while providing information on each animal while on the tram. There was also kangaroos, wallabies & lemurs. They offer pony rides for $5 and all proceeds go straight back to donation to the animals. There is a restaurant on site but we could not check it out as there was a wedding taking place.
Sharkarosa is a great place for the younger kids. They can enjoy themselves with a good bit of freedom. Our three year old loves the place and can occupy herself for a couple of hours. We've been back several times and continues to captivate our grandchildren.
We came here after going to Fossil Rim and were disappointed. While it is a nice place and there are many more "close contact" animals here - you ride a tram out to three fields and back again which takes about 20 minutes. Horses, Zebras, Giraffes. There is a covered place to eat, and stations to wash hands. Bathrooms are outhouses.
Thanks to Groupon we found out about this little gem! Cute little petting zoo, a few enclosed area to see monkeys & Kangaroos. Then to the tram, for a safari ride, yes the animal's do come right up! The hardest part is waiting in line for the ride, kids got restless, so I'd advise doing that first. The area to wait is covered, so the shade was a relief. As your going to be out in the HOT Texas weather, if you attend in Summer/Spring. There is also a black bear area next to the little cafe,with an outdoor play area for kids. 2 hrs is about the time it took us to, see everything. ××××there are only port-a-potty so use before you get there×××
My family and I had a great time at Sharkarosa. It is a little smaller than I expected, but we have never been able to get that up close and personal with the animals. My 7 year old daughter had a blast. The pizza restaurant was great! And the bear sitting at the picnic table was such a site to see.
I had actually never heard of this place until I found a groupon for it. My sister and her family were coming to visit during Memorial Day weekend so I bought a groupon for us to go. We were glad we did. The safari tram was the best part. You take a bus basically that is open on the sides through areas with zebras, zorses, zonkeys, emus and camels. Although you cant pet the zebras or emus because they are wild, you can pet the zonkeys, zorses and camels. There is also a petting zoo area that the kids can go pet smaller animals. And theres a small monkey, kangaroo and bear area as well. The bathroom consists of port-o-potties, which really sucks. The gift shop is tiny. And I know there is some place to eat but we didn't try it. This place is pretty small so it won't take you long to go through it. We were done in a couple of hours. But it was nice to entertain the kids for a couple of hours and then get home since it is so close.