Planning your own trip to South Africa? Read more about my Garden Route itinerary here.

There’s a place in Oudtshoorn, South Africa that is pretty magical if you’re into nature — it’s called Cango Wildlife Ranch, and calling it a zoo would be an understatement. In addition to getting up close and personal with crocs and turtles and lemurs and lions, they offer wildlife encounters whereby you can interact with some of these creatures. Entrance costs around $14 for adults and $9 for kids, with options to add wildlife encounters for an additional fee. I spend about 2.5 hours here and enjoy every minute.

They offer hour-long tours throughout the day (included in the entrance price). While waiting for the tour to start, I check out a few of the nearby enclosures, which feature snakes, birds, and turtles.

Cango Wildlife Ranch has a top-notch photo department — if you sign up for any of the animal encounters, they include a free printed photograph taken by their professionals.

Peacocks wander the central area:

Our tour group is small (only seven people) and our guide offers excellent commentary throughout the hour.

We start off entering what looks like the Temple of Doom — they call it Valley of the Ancients.

These are Malaysian Flying Foxes… also known as large fruit bats.

That’s a marabou stork on the left below. It’s absolutely massive and I’ve seen them throughout Africa, most memorably in Ethiopia.

Hey look, it’s lemurs from Madagascar!

They seem so adorable and cheeky. These are one of the animals you can have a wildlife encounter with — I think that would be so neat.

Next up… we’re heading into crocodile territory.

Once we’re all on the bridge standing over a pool of crocs, it rattles back and forth.

Hey dudes hanging out in the water! Don’t worry, I’m coming back at the end of this tour to spend more time with you…

My visit falls right on the cusp of high season. The days are starting to become warmer, which means that cold-blooded reptiles like these crocs will become more active. But we’re not there yet — in a few more weeks, this “Jumping Jaws” exhibit below will showcase crocs reaching into the air to grab bait offered by wildlife handlers. But today they appear mostly sleepy. I’m sorry they’re not in action yet, as that would be neat to see.

Check out this hippo skull… it’s enormous. These animals kill a fair number of humans each year (mostly tourists who stupidly get close thinking they’re cute creatures) and I would not want to encounter one in the water.

Speaking of hippos, here is a live one lounging on shore. This is a relatively rare sight as these guys have fair skin and like to stay in the water to avoid getting burned.

A wider shot of the hippo enclosure. These digs are not shabby!

Can you tell which of the objects below are stones and which ones are turtle shells?

Trick question, they’re all turtles.

Time for Cheetahland!

This one is snoozing:

Oooo… we spot leopards! These guys are SO HARD to find in the wild; I’ve seen barely a handful over the past several months while on safari in Africa (check out these baby leopards in Zambia). So I’m grateful for the chance to photograph them from a relatively short distance.

Their paws are enormous. And those spots! Nature is so cool.

On the move:

We continue walking along this platform above the big game enclosures.

While on safari I’ve seen a few mature male lions with the quintessential mane, but always from a great distance. It’s unreal to see it up close — this big guy looks like he climbed out of the pages of a storybook, or the opening of The Lion King.

These creatures continue to dazzle — here is a white snow tiger:

And that marks the end of a great tour.

After the tour, guests are free to wander around on their own to revisit any of the animals if they want more time. The whole park is easily walkable. If you want to add on any animal encounters, now is the time to do it.

Personally, I cannot WAIT to try one thing… cage diving with crocodiles! Here is a glimpse of what I’m in for:

More on that next week!

Many thanks to Cango Wildlife Ranch for hosting my visit. All opinions are my own.