The Rio Safari Elche - Located between Santa Pola and Elche in the central Costa Blanca region of Spain, is the wonderful animal park, the Rio Safari Elche. All the family will enjoy a trip to this excellent park with plenty to offer new and returning visitors alike.

Located conveniently on the road from Santa Pola to Elche (CV-865) it is well signposted and easy to find. Before making the trip it could be well worth your while to visit your local tourist office as there are usually discount vouchers to be found or even “children go free” vouchers. Pick up a leaflet and a map while you are there.

Apart from the park itself, there are other attractions at the Rio Safari Elche, these include picnic areas where you can enjoy your own snacks and refreshments in shady spot and a swimming pool with fun slides, so be sure to take your towels and swimming costumes (not forgetting sun tan lotion!). There are refreshments available at the park but it is more fun to take your own.

Throughout the day at the Rio Safari Elche there are ‘train’ rides which go in amongst the animals, giving visitors a chance to take some great photos and see the many animals up close and personal. There are also animal shows during the day which should not be missed and are included in the ticket price. These entertaining shows include a sea-lion show, a parrot show and an excellent elephant show.

Whilst wandering through the Rio Safari you will find plenty of opportunities to feed the animals, there is usually food available to buy in the park shop but it is cheaper to take your own. Carrots and monkey nuts seem to be the most popular and most of the animals seem to enjoy either or both of these. The giraffes appear to be the most popular animals to feed and they absolutely love carrots, the giraffes will come gently down and take a carrot from a child’s hand, but watch out for that tongue! Keep an eye open for the prairie dogs, they are liable to pop out of a hole in the ground at any time, looking for monkey nuts, they are quite tame and with a bit of coaxing may even take a nut from your hand.

The goat pen is sometimes open for visitors to go inside and carrots may be on sale at the entrance for feeding them. However the goats can be a little over-enthusiastic at the sight of a carrot, so a little care is needed.

The variety of different animal species that can be seen at the Rio Safari is mind boggling and includes crocodiles, chimps, monkeys, deer, antelope, buffalo, emus, ostriches, lions, tigers, jaguars, llamas, camels, giraffes, an elephant and a hippo. Another popular section is the parrot house featuring some very colourful specimens, also the reptile house and aquarium, with a good variety of snakes, lizards and fish.

The safari has been recently undergoing some renovations and improvements to make the experience even more enjoyable for visitors. As these improvements continue the park will no doubt become even more popular and attractive for visitors.

So ends our little journey to the Rio Safari Elche, during a holiday on the Costa Blanca in Spain, be sure to set aside a day to spend under the four thousand palms and wonder at the great variety of animal species to be seen there - it will be an experience that will stay with you for a lifetime.

Easy to find and well signposted, the Rio Safari Elche is situated just off the Santa Pola to Elche road ( the CV-865).

This article on the Rio Safari Elche was written by Steve Locke who lives in Cabo Roig on the southern Costa Blanca. To see more pictures and information on the Rio Safari look here => http://needahandspanishproperties.com/rio-safari-elche.html to see a picture of the baby hippo look here:- http://needahandspanishproperties.com/hippo.html