By Annemarie Eveland

I dreamt of Africa ever since I met my husband, John, a kind wild animal trainer for the movies. He spoke of the animals teaching him. We were going to Africa someday. I longed to experience the beautiful animals up close, but he died suddenly, so I tucked my dream away, but my heart never forgot John and his animals.

Recently, driving through Camp Verde, Arizona, I noticed a sign that made my heart leap. It read “Out of Africa.” So, I went online and sure enough, it was an actual place, and right here in the heart of Arizona! I don’t know how I had missed finding this incredible place until now! So I traveled to the venue, and I was delighted to meet the two women who run this special place, manager Ashton Powell and President/Co-Founder/Owner, Prayeri Harrison. 

When I went to visit, I brought a few photos of my husband’s animals to share. I arrived with my associate Robert, and Barbara greeted us in the gift shop to begin our day visit to “Africa.”

Prayeri Harrison met us, and we began exploring “their Africa.” Prayeri is a slender, vivacious lady with long, flowing hair and bright, sparkling eyes. Her strong, quiet energy and enthusiastic demeanor speak of a boundless devotion to her beloved “residents” and the purpose of their mission.

From many trips to Africa, she and her late husband Dean created a unique, safe and natural setting for their animals to interact with people in harmony and trust — and out of Africa was born in Arizona over 36 years ago!

Their preserve has the beautiful Mingus Mountains as a backdrop, and rests easily on 100+ acres of variegated hills and valleys. Many exotic animals from around the world live there to help visitors know them through personal contact. It is a curious, yet valuable, rare and memorable adventure to bond with this powerful wildness and to see these animals in their natural behaviors in open, unfettered areas.

This place is not a zoo. I especially liked that each animal has a name and a personal story to tell. (see website.) And Prayeri believes that we can relate to animals meaningfully and feel a deep connection. I witnessed her cuddling fondly with a hyena, who instantly responded from her nuzzling attention. 

During our day tour, we discovered many animals and the narrations from teammates helped us understand and better appreciate the animals. Mogie and Blue were only four years old when rescuers found them; their mother had been killed at Blue Ridge Reservoir, and they lacked hunting skills. This park is now their permanent home. Hand feeding can do lots for bonding with them. The bears enjoy a big pond, swings, underground dens, swim in pools, and are mentally stimulated. Their coats can be brown or black, changing with weather. They love to play and of course love food too. In the wild, they mostly eating grasses, roots, berries, insects. In captivity, black bears may live 35 years. There are over 2500 in Arizona, and they are solitary animals and bowlegged which helps them have great balance and can grip surfaces, even climb trees!

I met the White Rhinoceros Jericho, who is not worried about his weight of a hefty 5000 pounds. Even though he looks stocky, he can run up to 40 miles-per-hour. And in captivity some live up to 55+ years. In the wild, he munches on grass, water plants, shrubs, trees, bushes, twigs. Jericho arrived at the park in 2013 to his new six-acre domain, travelling over 2100 miles from Bush Gardens in Florida. He mostly relies on his smell, but can move his ears independently for sounds.

Next came Grizzly Bear Cypress.

Her diet is plants and meat. She came from being kept in a 10 x 10 cage but now has a lot of freedom and swims and plays in shows at the Park. She also receives a steady diet and has a large acreage to live on. For hibernation: She uses several caves and hibernates in them.

The giraffes stole my heart. Inside the park entrance, there was a giraffe named Pilgrim, who weighs in at 3,000 pounds, who was amazingly attentive and affectionate. I didn’t know that untrimmed hooves cause serious health problems for giraffes. But he (and everyone at the compound) went through a lot to fix them correctly. He is 16 feet tall. Definitely someone to look up to! The average life span in captivity for males is 16 years. Pilgrim is 23 years old now.

Tour guides at one compound offered us the chance to let a giraffe take the little vegetation sprig from my mouth. Sure enough, as his looming head and neck came into the Mog vehicle, Temba’s super soft lips touched my face and gently retrieved the vegetation from my lips. What a delightful surprise it was for me.

There are many other animals to discover too such as Reptiles, Giraffes, White Tiger, Black Bears, Grizzly Bear, Rhinoceros, Reptiles, Lemurs, African Lions, Javelinas, Barbary Sheep, Cougar, Ibex, Black Leopard Tiger, Exotic Lizards, Leopard Lion, Lioness Gray Wolves, Tortoises, Çritters Court, Marmoset, Caiman, Porcupine, Sloth, and more.

Spending the day at this Africa will keep you intrigued in a memorable and fun way with these animals who entertain, educate and give us pleasure from their beauty and fulfilled lifestyle here. The staff is dedicated to fulfilling this incredible dream.

Other popular experiences are the African Bush Safari Tour, the Predator Zipline, Wildlife Preserve, Super Mog Tour, Wildlife shows, experiential Giant Snake Show, Creature Feature encounter, Sloth Encounter and so much more. At all theses special shows and tours, the staff’s presentations about the animals will captivate you.

One special show is the Tiger Splash.

An entertaining and very informative show with the tigers jumping into the air to retrieve a treat and splash dramatically down into the large pool where people are also playing with them. This will get your riveted attention about how tigers love the water too. The show is dazzling and highly educational.

Another popular activity is the Predator Feed.

These animals devour their food with crunching sounds that will astound you. See the usefulness of the powerful teeth of lions, tigers, hyenas, and others, demonstrate what they do in the wild with a kill. I saw them easily gorge whole turkeys into mincemeat. Gulp! And I understand caretakers deliver about 50 pounds of raw meat to the animals three days weekly.

For more information, visit their website: www.OutOfAfricaPark.com. There is also a new out of Africa Sanctuary 501c3, a separate organization that was created specifically for the care of these animals. This newly founded Sanctuary plans to organize activities such as fundraisers and educational events. They always appreciate your kind support.



Discover these animals for yourself. Interacting with the animals offers unique experiences that cannot be experienced anywhere else. Plan a fun family day outing. You will want to come back. I know I did!

Leave your passport at home, because Africa 

is in Arizona!