Unearth The Voyage
There are travel experiences that surprise you, and then there are the ones that completely rewire how you think about adventure. A working safari property tucked into rural Oklahoma falls squarely into that second category.
At this place, you can hand-feed a giraffe, lock eyes with a ring-tailed lemur from your bedroom window, and pet a camel before breakfast. I had no idea something like this existed in the heartland, and honestly, finding it felt like stumbling onto a secret the rest of the country has been sleeping on.
By the time I left, I was already planning my return trip.
Where It All Begins: Address, Location, and Setting
Safari Stayz sits at 31617 Propane Rd, Wanette, OK 74878, a small town in central Oklahoma that most people drive through without a second glance. That changes the moment you turn onto the property and realize what is waiting for you behind those gates.
The address alone raises eyebrows. Propane Road.
In Wanette. It sounds like the setup to a joke, but what you find there is anything but ordinary.
The property spreads across open land where animal enclosures, walking paths, and cozy Airbnb cabins all share the same peaceful countryside backdrop.
Owner Kamy and her family literally built this place from scratch, including the enclosures, the guest accommodations, and the entire experience. Her dad, Trevor, and a small dedicated team helped turn raw land into something genuinely remarkable.
The care and attention poured into every corner of the property is obvious the second you arrive, and the natural Oklahoma landscape makes the whole setting feel both wild and welcoming.
The Animal Roster: Over 100 Exotic Residents
The sheer variety of animals at Safari Stayz is the first thing that stops you cold. Over 100 exotic residents call this property home, and the list reads like something you would expect from a major zoological park, not a family-run operation in central Oklahoma.
Lemurs, zebras, camels, giraffes, kangaroos, wallabies, otters, porcupines, fruit bats, tortoises, prairie dogs, reindeer, donkeys, and even a chipmunk named Chip who is apparently famous enough to be held by guests. Each animal has a name, a personality, and a story the staff can tell you in detail.
What sets this roster apart is not just the numbers but the condition of the animals. Every single one appears calm, healthy, and genuinely comfortable around people.
That does not happen by accident. It is the result of daily hands-on care from a team that treats these animals like family members, and the animals respond in kind with a relaxed curiosity that makes every encounter feel natural rather than forced.
The Two-Hour Tour Experience
Two hours sounds like a long time until you are actually on the tour and realize it flies by faster than a 20-minute grocery run. The guided experience at Safari Stayz is hands-on from the very first stop, and the staff sets the tone immediately with a warmth that makes everyone feel like they belong there.
Guests feed tortoises, otters, porcupines, kangaroos, and fruit bats. They pet camels and zebras.
They hold prairie dogs and get up close with animals most people have only seen through thick zoo glass. The guides share fun trivia, answer every question with genuine enthusiasm, and never rush you from one animal to the next.
The tour is designed for all ages, and watching kids process the experience in real time is its own kind of entertainment. A child who came hoping to see cool animals ends up leaving with a working knowledge of otter behavior and bat biology.
That kind of learning does not feel like school. It feels like the best afternoon you have had in years, wrapped in fur and feathers.
Kamy Grant: The Heart Behind the Operation
Every great place has a person at its center who makes it what it is, and at Safari Stayz, that person is Kamy. She is the founder, the head caretaker, the tour guide, the host, and the driving force behind everything that happens on this property.
Her knowledge of each animal is specific and deep. She does not just tell you what species something is.
She tells you that particular animal’s preferences, quirks, and history. Guests consistently leave talking about Kamy the same way they talk about the animals, as one of the highlights of the whole visit.
What comes through most clearly is that this was her dream, and she built it with her own hands alongside her family. That passion shows in how she interacts with guests, how she talks about the animals, and how she runs every part of the operation.
She welcomes every question, spends real time with each group, and makes sure no one leaves feeling like they missed out. Visiting Safari Stayz and not meeting Kamy would be like going to a great restaurant and skipping the main course.
The Airbnb Stays: Sleep With a View of the Lemurs
Most people do not expect the accommodations at an animal sanctuary to be nicer than a standard hotel room. At Safari Stayz, they are.
The Airbnb options on the property are clean, comfortable, and thoughtfully designed, with full kitchens, Wi-Fi, and streaming services included.
The deluxe unit upstairs is the one most guests rave about, and the reason is simple: from the bedroom window, you can watch ruffed lemurs move around their enclosure. From the living room window, ring-tailed lemurs are visible doing exactly what ring-tailed lemurs do.
Guests report spending long stretches of time just watching them, which is a completely reasonable use of a vacation evening.
Outside, there are fire pits, a barbecue area, and a play space for kids. A convenience store a few miles away sells pizza if you do not feel like cooking.
The whole setup encourages you to slow down, breathe the Oklahoma air, and let the novelty of your surroundings sink in gradually. Waking up to the sound of exotic animals just outside your window is the kind of morning that is very hard to replicate anywhere else in the country.
In-Room Animal Encounters: When the Safari Comes to You
The tour is extraordinary, but the in-room animal encounters take the whole experience into a completely different territory. After the main tour wraps up, guests who are staying overnight can arrange for select animals to visit them directly in their accommodation.
A handler brings the animal in, stays with you for the session, and lets you spend one-on-one time with a creature that most people will never get this close to in their lifetime. Guests who have done the lemur in-room encounter describe it as the kind of moment that gets retold at family dinners for years.
The intimacy of it is what makes it so different from a standard zoo visit. There are no crowds, no barriers, and no sense that you are being shuffled through a system.
It is just you, the animal, and someone who genuinely loves that animal and wants you to understand why. The staff uses these encounters as teaching moments too, so you walk away knowing real facts about the creature you just spent time with.
Few travel experiences manage to be both this personal and this educational at the same time.
The Private Giraffe and Otter Experiences
Among all the add-on experiences available at Safari Stayz, the private giraffe encounter and the private otter experience tend to generate the most conversation. Both are available as separate bookings, and both deliver exactly the kind of story you want to bring home from a trip.
The giraffe is a newer addition to the property and already drawing visitors who make the drive specifically to meet her. Hand-feeding a giraffe is one of those things that sounds fun in theory and turns out to be even more surreal when you are actually doing it.
The otter experience is equally memorable, with the animals being playful, fast, and endlessly entertaining up close.
An otter swim experience is also reportedly in the works, which means future visits could include getting into the water with them. Whether you are a lifelong animal enthusiast or someone who just stumbled across the Safari Stayz website at midnight and bought tickets on impulse, these private sessions are the kind of upgrade that justifies the entire trip.
They are priced fairly, and the staff makes every second count without any feeling of being rushed through the moment.
Who Visits and Why They Come Back
People drive from North Dakota. They fly in from Pennsylvania.
They make three-hour round trips from cities across Oklahoma just to do it all over again. The visitor profile at Safari Stayz is genuinely all over the map, which says something important about what the place gets right.
Families with young children love it for the hands-on learning and the sheer wonder on their kids’ faces. Grandparents bring grandchildren and end up being just as captivated as the little ones.
Future veterinarians get their first real close-up look at the animals they hope to work with one day. Couples find it to be an unexpectedly romantic and memorable date experience.
The repeat visitor rate is telling. People who come once tend to plan their return before they even leave the parking lot.
The combination of fair pricing, genuine interaction, and a staff that never makes you feel like a number in a line creates the kind of loyalty that no marketing budget can manufacture. Safari Stayz earns it the old-fashioned way, by consistently delivering an experience that exceeds what people expected when they clicked the booking button.
Animal Welfare at the Core of Everything
One of the first things visitors notice, often before they even articulate it, is how calm the animals are. Not sedated-calm or fearful-calm, but genuinely relaxed in the presence of humans.
That behavioral cue tells you everything you need to know about how the animals are treated day to day.
Kamy and her team have built enclosures that are solid, spacious, and clearly designed with the animals’ well-being as the top priority. Every animal on the property has a name, a routine, and a staff member who knows its individual personality.
The care philosophy is visible in the details, from the quality of the habitats to the way handlers interact with each animal during tours.
For visitors who care about ethical animal experiences, Safari Stayz clears the bar with room to spare. The animals are not props or performers.
They are residents who happen to enjoy human company because they have been raised with consistent, loving attention. That distinction matters, and guests who know the difference consistently note it as one of the most reassuring parts of the whole visit.
Responsible animal tourism looks exactly like this.
Planning Your Visit: Hours, Tips, and What to Know
Safari Stayz is open Wednesday through Monday from 9 AM to 5 PM, with Tuesday being the one day the property closes. Phone reservations can be made at +1 405-534-0223, and the website at safaristayzok.com has booking details for both day tours and overnight stays.
The tour-only option is available for guests who do not want to book an Airbnb, which makes the experience accessible even if you are just passing through the region on a road trip. That said, staying overnight unlocks the in-room encounters and the full lemur-window experience, which most guests say is worth every penny of the upgrade.
A few practical notes: bring comfortable shoes, plan to spend at least two hours on the tour, and do not skip the add-on experiences if your schedule allows. The property is family-run, so group sizes stay manageable and the attention you get from staff is genuine and unhurried.
For anyone in or near central Oklahoma looking for something truly outside the ordinary, this is the kind of place that makes you proud the state has it. Book early, arrive ready to be surprised, and prepare to leave with stories you will still be telling next year.
