By Stephanie Ranger
Photos by Parc Safari
Subjected to the “COVID diet” over the past two years, Parc Safari — like the entire tourist industry — has seen its most recent innovations slip under the radar. 2022 marks a big comeback, with new services and attractions to create family memories.
NEW: Electric bush trucks
The arrival of seven new bush trucks gives a hint of what’s to come at Parc Safari.
In 2017, Mr. Marc Bédard, president of Compagnie LION which manufactures electric buses in St-Jérôme, agreed to produce a truck adapted to the specific needs of Parc Safari. The result was the LION truck, with a spectacular cabin and a van designed by the engineers at Dunham-based Soudure Brault. The vehicles can comfortably accommodate 50 people and four wheelchairs.
Visitors will have the impression of experiencing a real safari, as in the parks of Kenya. Thirteen other trucks are on order from the St-Jérôme company to offer all guests the opportunity to see the herds of zebras, giraffes, wildebeest, etc.
From the Big Bang to today
The exhibition in the Discovery Pavilion presents “the traces left over five billion years” of the evolution of the earth and of life: these traces are in the minerals, millennial fossils, skeletons and insects from the collection of Georges Brassard.
This exhibition documents the first appearance of life on Earth, including a replica of a bone dating back 5,000 years that bears ancient Chinese writing. Closer to us, we see that minerals are present in the objects of our everyday life.
“The Discovery Pavilion, by the beauty of the objects it presents, will surprise children,” says Jean-Pierre Ranger. “And who knows, maybe by seeing all these objects; these rocks formed in the early days of Earth; the fossil evidence of life millions of years ago; a young visitor will marvel to the point of engaging in the field of scientific research, becoming a Stephen Hawking or a Hubert Reeves. Tomorrow, they will be responsible for the fate of our only residence, the Blue Planet.”
Safari Water Park: Four pools, Nile River tube ride and slides
Parc Safari is also a water park for the whole family. Its NEPTUNE filtration system (one micron) provides crystal clear, high purity water and reduces the amount of chlorine for the greatest comfort of swimmers.
The water park is made up of many pools and water games: the Dolphins’ Lagoon, the Dino Wading Pool, the Tropical Oasis with the Lake Victoria wave pool and its waterfall, three large water slides and the Nile River tube ride, a 400-metre-long attraction that takes visitors past the ruins of Kush, the Khartoum dam, the Valley of the Kings, the pyramid of Cheops and the famous passenger ship Sudan.
Parc Safari also lets parents and children play together during their visit. The Rally Safari consists of scanning the QR codes and answering 11 questions, with answers located throughout the four corners of Parc Safari.
Visitors should plan to spend six hours at Parc Safari.