Auto Safari Chapin is unique animal park near Escuintla, Guatemala. The park was founded in 1980 as a natural reserve area and is among the largest animal parks in Guatemala. The park features several spots: a drive-through area (safari style), a pedestrian area and a recreation area with restaurants and a swimming pool. The park houses more than 96 different animal species and more than 70 plant species; including the African lion, hippopotamus, deer, zebra, giraffe, crocodile, water buffalo, flamingo, macaw, ostrich, and more.
Auto Safari Chapín is the first zoo in Central America where you can drive through in your car. Your car windows and doors are the only things that separate you from the animals - safari style!
During the car tour you will pass by different paddocks divided by semi-natural fencing and doors that open remotely by operators perched in towers scattered throughout the park. There are 14 paddocks, one of them being a rest area where you can get out of the car, use the restrooms, buy drinks or snacks and see some of the animals from elevated platforms. The entire car tour, including rest stops, will take about 1.5 hours to complete.
When you finish the tour in your car, you can park your car in the large and secure parking lot and head to the walk-through zoo area. In this portion of the zoo, you can see Central American and local fauna, as well as some international species. Most of the animals in this portion now live in larger enclosures instead of cages, replicating their natural habitat as best as possible. This allows you to see the animals directly with no cage material between you and them.
You will also find the aviaries, where you can walk inside a large enclosure to see different species of birds. There are also several lookout platforms in the pedestrian zoo, where you can see the car tour paddocks from a different perspective.
When done visiting the pedestrian zoo, you will find our lagoon, restaurant, pools and souvenir shop. If you wish to see the monkey and bird islands, you can do this in the boat at no additional cost. The relaxing lagoon tour lasts 15 to 20 minutes while your boat is being powered by a gondolier.
