Kay so I did the segway tour yesterday and I wanted to get you guys a review in case anyone is interested. I am uploading tons of photos right now as I type this, so you can check the gallery if you want some pictures of the Asia area.
Okay so this tour usually costs about $80 and its 2 hours that include a tour around the East Africa section up into Asia right before the bridge near the tigers where you then turn back to the beginning. There is also a training session before that teaches you how to use a segway and safety. Safety was particularly very big as the park doesn't want any litigation issues and lots of paperwork involved, but I didn't find it to be a big deal. The length of the training session varies because everyone has to be cleared before the tour starts. The good news is that not many people take these tours so you might be the only group on the tour.
For those that haven't ridden a segway, they are very fun to ride. Its like skateboarding and driving at the same time, so it does take some balance but its really easy to operate once you get the hang of it. The segways are really neat because they are operated by pressure from your feet. So you lean forward to go forward and back to go back and turning the handle fixture to turn. Though after the two our tour, you will be tired as if you have been walking a lot, so its not like you are riding a vehicle.
The overall tour is fairly good. Its probably the best way you can go see the Asia filed exhibits besides those photo caravan tours. Our tour guides were pretty knowledgeable, more so than the JiA tour guides. Very nice people too. As far as seeing the animals, you do get fairly close, like closer than the old monorail. There are several stops along the tour where you can lean up your segway and take pictures. So it's better than the monorail because you can actually stop for a bit, but you can't stop for an unlimited amount of time like you would for an exhibit throughout the zoo.
Taking this tour was very memorable. I actually could smell the dung of the animals, which I probably haven't there since the old monorail. There's a much better view of the Scimitar Horned Oryx and Barbary Red Deer in North Africa than JiA. It was also good to see the Pere David's Deer in Central Asia again. Sarus Cranes could be heard from one of the bomas which are going to be on the exhibit soon. A new Javan Banteng bull has also been put in the exhibit and now there are a bunch of pregnant Banteng in the enclosure. Also the Urial and Mouflon both had babies that were running about. I always considered Asia to be my favorite part of the WGASA bush tour and it was well missed. I was glad to see some of the rare Asian animals again like Przewalksi's Wild Horse, Arabian Oyrxs(which had babies too), and Markhor.
Species list again:
Central Asia:
Javan Banteng
Hog Deer
Mandarin Sika
Caucasian Urial
Pere David's Deer
Sarus Cranes
Asian Plains:
Indian Rhinoceros
Barashinga
Indochinese Sika
Chital
Indian Guar
Nilgai
Blackbuck
Armenian Mouflon
White-Napped Cranes
Malayan Sambar
Persian Goitered Gazelle
Side Exhibits:
Przewalksi's Wild Horse
Arabian Oryx
White-lipped Deer and Markhor (together)
Okay so this tour usually costs about $80 and its 2 hours that include a tour around the East Africa section up into Asia right before the bridge near the tigers where you then turn back to the beginning. There is also a training session before that teaches you how to use a segway and safety. Safety was particularly very big as the park doesn't want any litigation issues and lots of paperwork involved, but I didn't find it to be a big deal. The length of the training session varies because everyone has to be cleared before the tour starts. The good news is that not many people take these tours so you might be the only group on the tour.
For those that haven't ridden a segway, they are very fun to ride. Its like skateboarding and driving at the same time, so it does take some balance but its really easy to operate once you get the hang of it. The segways are really neat because they are operated by pressure from your feet. So you lean forward to go forward and back to go back and turning the handle fixture to turn. Though after the two our tour, you will be tired as if you have been walking a lot, so its not like you are riding a vehicle.
The overall tour is fairly good. Its probably the best way you can go see the Asia filed exhibits besides those photo caravan tours. Our tour guides were pretty knowledgeable, more so than the JiA tour guides. Very nice people too. As far as seeing the animals, you do get fairly close, like closer than the old monorail. There are several stops along the tour where you can lean up your segway and take pictures. So it's better than the monorail because you can actually stop for a bit, but you can't stop for an unlimited amount of time like you would for an exhibit throughout the zoo.
Taking this tour was very memorable. I actually could smell the dung of the animals, which I probably haven't there since the old monorail. There's a much better view of the Scimitar Horned Oryx and Barbary Red Deer in North Africa than JiA. It was also good to see the Pere David's Deer in Central Asia again. Sarus Cranes could be heard from one of the bomas which are going to be on the exhibit soon. A new Javan Banteng bull has also been put in the exhibit and now there are a bunch of pregnant Banteng in the enclosure. Also the Urial and Mouflon both had babies that were running about. I always considered Asia to be my favorite part of the WGASA bush tour and it was well missed. I was glad to see some of the rare Asian animals again like Przewalksi's Wild Horse, Arabian Oyrxs(which had babies too), and Markhor.
Species list again:
Central Asia:
Javan Banteng
Hog Deer
Mandarin Sika
Caucasian Urial
Pere David's Deer
Sarus Cranes
Asian Plains:
Indian Rhinoceros
Barashinga
Indochinese Sika
Chital
Indian Guar
Nilgai
Blackbuck
Armenian Mouflon
White-Napped Cranes
Malayan Sambar
Persian Goitered Gazelle
Side Exhibits:
Przewalksi's Wild Horse
Arabian Oryx
White-lipped Deer and Markhor (together)
You can take whatever Camera you want as long as you can still ride on the segway with it. If your camera can go around your neck its better to hold onto and if you're good enough at riding a segway, you can snap photos while riding with one hand.
But the Bonobos might be given a shot. 