This year for Halloween you could stick with the same-old-same-old. You could go snag a cheap costume from Wal-Mart, make a lap around the block and retire with a sad sack of candy. Or, you could get creative, get wild, and come join the party at Safari West! Make a reservation for our Halloween Spook-tacular on Saturday, October 29, 2016 and come see how we do it on the Sonoma Serengeti.

We’ve got everything you could want in a Halloween celebration. There’s the Conservation Pumpkin patch where you can sponsor a pumpkin for our wild creatures. There’s something awesome about watching a rhinoceros smash a jack-o-lantern, or seeing the lemurs sneak up on a snack-filled gourd. With a small donation, you can make that happen and help support the work of the Vulture Conservation Foundation! You may not think of buzzards as birds that need some help, but they most certainly do and you could be a part of that.

We’ve also got the Safari West Trick-or-Treat Trail which passes through our Junior Keepers’ Mad Science Lab, past the Wall of Skulls, and through the Bone Garden where our Osteology Lab Scientists bring Dia de los Muertos and Safari West together in an amazing way. There are incredible things to see and delicious candy to collect. And when your feet feel a little tired, you’re welcome to kick back and relax on the Trick-or-Trek bus tour, a 45-minute cruise through a few of our habitats. Enjoy the sights of giraffes, rhinos, and antelope galore as you travel through their Safari West home.

But what about the costumes? Of course, you should come in costume! All we ask is that you skip those cheap plastic things you find in the store. They’re made of single-use plastic and are almost guaranteed to wind up in a landfill by Thanksgiving. Instead, show off your creativity. Come up with an awesome costume made with stuff you find around the house, or from recycled old costumes, or from anything else you can think of. Wow us with your imagination and ingenuity and you just may take home a prize!

Lastly, if you want to make a day of it, reserve dinner with us. After an afternoon of exploration and fun, sit down at the Savanna Café for a delicious African-inspired meal followed by a presentation by Corky Quirk of Nor-Cal Bats. Not only will she fascinate you with her stories of our local flying mammals, she’ll introduce you to a few live and in person.

Halloween and Dia de los Muertos are festivals to honor the dead and celebrate the living. Come to celebrate with us at Safari West and make your Halloween wild!