MONARTO ZOO BUS TOUR

If you're in need of a good day out and want to take in some exotic wildlife at the same time, then a new bus service to the Monarto Zoological Park may be just the answer. For those without their own wheels, Monarto has commenced a new service, which departs the Central Bus Station, each weekday. It'll get you to the Zoological Park in time to catch the morning public tour and soon you'll be crossing two continents. In the Asian grasslands the living ancestors of buffalo and cattle, the Nilguy graze unperturbed and maybe a smaller Indian Blackbuck Antelope will add a dash of athleticism to proceedings.

Through another gate, and now you drive through time to living fossil country. American Bison and Mongolian Wild Horses are back together again after twenty thousand years. They featured in Palaeolithic artists' cave paintings. Sadly the bison prairies are gone and the horses are effectively extinct in the wild. But here, they breed happily in the mallee at Monarto. While on your tour, keep an eye out for Rafiki, the young giraffe born at the park last year and her father Kutabe is sure to get in on the act.

There's a thousand hectares of scrub for the animals to roam, including the cheetah's little piece of African freedom in the South Australian bush. The tour of the park leaves the Monarto Visitor Centre at half past ten each morning. If you want to make the 70kms trip from Adelaide and don't want to take the car, then a bus leaves the Central Bus Station in Franklin Street each weekday morning at 9am. As part of the total package you can join the Monarto Tour and be back in Adelaide by a quarter to two. The coach price is $28.00 and entry into the part is $14 for adults and $9 for children. More information from info@postcards.sa.com.au or for bookings contact 8415-5533.