Troubadourable folk buddies Simon and Garfunkel once sang that "it's all happening at the zoo," before retiring from music to live out their days serenely basking in the reptile habitat. Become immersed in the animal kingdom with today's Groupon to Lion Country Safari, America’s first cageless zoo, located just west of West Palm Beach. Admission for children ages 2 and under is free.

Unlike traditional zoos, Lion Country Safari allows its more than 800 animals to live naturally on 320 acres of land, divided into seven sections to emulate the wild surroundings of South America, northern Mozambique, east and southwest Africa, India, western Zimbabwe, and post-apocalyptic New York City. Parking is included along with the two general-admission tickets, as well as a four-mile drive-through safari where visitors can see eye-to-eye with lions, rhinoceros, giraffes, chimpanzees, water buffalo, and the largest non-wild herd of zebras in the world. Interactive feeding exhibits (for an additional fee) enable patrons to become an animal’s temporary best friend, while rides and miniature golf in the Safari World area complete the creature-based entertainment.

Reviews

USA Travel Guide ranked Lion Country Safari third on its list of the Top 10 Zoos in America. Kampgrounds of America awarded the park's campground its President's Award in 2009. TripAdvisors give Lion Country Safari an average of four owl eyes.

• Moving into the altogether different realm of Safari parks, Lion Country Safari near West Palm Beach, Florida is the nation’s original open-road animal attraction, and arguably it’s still the best. – Steven, USA Travel Guide
• We expected the animals to be hiding away with their backs turned like at most zoos. However, what we found was that the animals were actually very active, roaming around freely, and in several cases seemed as interested in us as we were in them. – freff_atl, TripAdvisor