Going Wild in Wine Country

By Mary Swift-Swan

At the north edge of San Francisco Bay are miles of wine country. To the northeast lies Napa, and to
the northwest lies Sonoma County. Sonoma County includes towns with the names of known wines like Glen Ellen, Kenwood, Windsor, and more. The county is filled with many outstanding wineries and scenic wonders. There so many things in Sonoma County it takes more than one day to see even a part of it. Finding a place to stay can make the visit a wonderful retreat. Check www.sonomacounty.com or 707-865-0565 if planning a visit. But there is one place some may miss. Located less than an hour north of Larkspur, on the north side of Santa Rosa ,is a place that is wild.

Safari West would be a great adventure for Father’s Day, or any day of the year. Safari West is a wild get-a-way for a few hours or several days. Some schools have already found Safari West to be an amazing place to open minds and thrill kids. Two months a year, mid-April to mid-June, M-F, 9-noon, the place echoes with the laughter of children. When the buses leave, the only calls are from cranes and creatures native to the wilds of Africa. Safari tours run three times daily, and can take up to 300 people.

Owned by Peter and Nancy Lang, Safari West is a wildlife preserve which has been a frequent site for television features by Bay Area Backroads and Animal Planet. It has been the setting for exotic weddings, unforgettable business conventions, and a place to break away for a wild moment while on winetasting excursions. The 400 lake-studded acres are home to 400 mostly African animals. It has been said by some who have lived in Africa that, “Safari West is the closest thing to traveling to Africa itself.”

It is possible to stay long enough to really soak in the essence of being in Africa. Four years ago, the best safari tent maker in all of Africa made 32 authentic safari tents so visitors can experience a real African safari. The tents make camping an elegant experience. They have pillow-top beds, heaters, handmade doors, furnishings, and hardwood floors. The tents overlook the giraffe pastures. There are also a few cottages available. Corporate America has begun to discover that up to 90 people can be accommodated for one or more nights. The banquet and conference tents have Internet access. There is a large screen where African movie nights occur. The meeting rooms easily accommodate between 80 to 100 people. Larger groups can overflow to a cooperative neighboring facility.

Nancy was the curator responsible for the birds at the San Francisco Zoo for many years before joining Safari West. Nancy has helped establish a respected walk-through aviary, while more aggressive birds are in cages on the property. She and Peter married in the early 1990s. Nancy is the driving force behind creating the education programs; a public, friendly dining room; conference area; store; and accommodations, and opening the initially private Safari West to schools, corporate groups, and the public. A pair of Cheetahs live in a large run next to the main complex of buildings. There is another small cat, a few primates, and the aviary, but most of the animals are hoof stock. The property was originally a cattle ranch. When purchased in 1989, it was set up with three houses, barns, corrals, and cross fencing. Animals not yet adapted to the current weather, those being picked on by other animals, or those in for a checkup, live in and around the barns and corrals near the entrance. Most of the African animals live in pastures, roaming a habitat that is much like their native Africa. The property is a mix of grassy pastures, rolling hills with oaks, and scrubby trees supported by water from three lakes and four wells.

To see the many intriguing hoof animals, there are 14 miles of wooded trails and picnic grounds but most guests travel by safari jeeps with a driver who is a well-informed naturalist narrating the who’s who among the resident animals on the property. Our group was amazed and entertained by John Roberts, who joined Peter shortly after he moved to the area with 250 critters. John drove through the property showing us the many different kinds of animals. At the back fence, we located the herd of Watusi cows with their amazingly large horns roaming the back section. The biggest tenders of Watusi cattle are the Masai. The Masai tribes estimate the worth of a person by the number and health of their cattle. Safari West would be considered very rich and respected due to the number of well-fed and cared-for cows. John told us these cows are tough to eat, do not produce a lot of milk, or cross breed well, but they are characters, nondestructive, have lots of babies, and live for about 24 years.

It was interesting to learn of the many types of antelope. Nearly two thirds of the breeds have horns, male and female. In a group where females can defend themselves, they have a very loose family structure. The other third of the antelope species, where only the males have horns, there is a very tight family arrangement. Another interesting fact is that horns vs. antlers are a key difference between an antelope and deer. Horn is alive and does not fall off nor can it be replaced if broken. Antlers grow in a single season and fall in fall. The endangered Scimitar Horned Oryx were originally from the Sahara desert region; these unique horse-like animals have become extinct in the wild.

April through fall male giraffes are let out into a 12-acre pasture near the main buildings where they often greet visitors as they pass through on Safari jeeps or the longer Safari Queen. Safari West currently hosts 8,500 school kids during the week in a variety of learning programs. The very curious male giraffes will stick their noses right up to kids on tour. Giraffes like to be gently fed, but not petted. A bit of grass or grain in hand can is a way to make friends. They have an 18” long black tongue used to get food hard to reach. Their muzzle is soft and whiskery, so hold offered food out with an open hand.

Safari West is a member of the American Zoological Association,(AZA), of which 190 out of the 200 members are zoos. Members of the AZA buy, sell, trade, and breed wild animals. Only a few birds came directly from Africa. The rest of Safari West’s collection were born and raised onsite or by members of the AZA, although they originated from Africa. One of the benefits of this fine facility is that it is having noted success breeding in the natural African-like climate and terrain. Safari West is active in the joint AZA effort to preserve endangered breeds, working with other AZA members to collectively raise enough of those extinct in the wild through breeding programs.

In the second sector of 100 acres, just out from the main complex pastures, is a mixed group of animals, wildbeasts, a variety of antelope, gazelles, and Cape Buffalo. The most dangerous animals on the property are not the Cheetahs. They are the Cape Buffalo. In Africa, the Cape Buffalo are listed as one of the five most dangerous animals along with the lion, leopard, elephant, and rhino. They are big and stocky and not to be messed with. Their horns cover the entire top of their skull, making a very effective battering ram. Only 32 Cape Buffalo are in captivity among the 200 members of the AZA in the U.S. and Canada. Of those, five live at Safari West. One is just a year old, born onsite last year with, by chance, Animal Planet on hand to film the whole event for television. This is a great place to visit often for naturalists and photographers.

Touring the property is fun and the entire experience is as genuine and gracious as the owners and people who work there. It is clear kids and education are a priority for Nancy. It was a distinct pleasure to interview Nancy and Peter during the hors d’oeuvres and wine hour before the delicious buffet dinner, an option for guests.

BC: Tell our readers about Safari West’s education opportunities.
Nancy: We have programs for kindergarten through 6th grade where groups go on a driving tour with a trained naturalist. They learn about conservation, animal natural history, the natural habitat these animals live in (and their), camouflage, all the aspects of the African collection that we have here. In addition to that, we have internship programs for 14 year olds that are three-day certificate programs. Certificates show that an intern completed a certain amount work with the animals at the facility. There are also internships for high school and college students. High school students in their junior and senior years do their high school projects here, which is a six-month commitment. And then we have internships for college students that last six months to two years. One of our students is starting a master’s degree program here. We have veterinary interns who have used their internships to help them gain acceptance to veterinary colleges. Programs are very in-depth for animal husbandry, veterinary medicine, and behavioral research. We are teaching Zoo Biology at Santa Rosa Junior College. That should become a degree program in a few years’ time. That is what we are doing now in education. To see the kids come here during the weekdays is quite special. The kindergartners are so much fun. There is now a nonprofit lead by John Menth, who works to get grants to bring out elderly people, and to help school districts that can’t afford it to bring out their children to the facility. He also finds funding to bring out teachers for two-day educational conferences. John is an educator himself and very informative on how people can help.

Peter is the son of Otto Lang, a movie and television producer and director. Peter may not have shared his father’s love for the movie industry, but they both loved Africa. Peter has always loved animals. He started a longhorn cattle ranch near Los Angeles in 1971. To reduce the scrub brush and poison oak, a friend who ran the Fresno Zoo suggested Eland antelope. They ate the poison oak like candy and cut way down on the brush. Peter loved it, and the unique antelope. He tried a few more exotics. Over a period of ten years, Peter switched to all exotics. When he reached 250 animals, including a few birds, he needed a bigger spread with water. In Los Angeles, that was hard to find or afford so he came north to the Bay Area in 1989. The ranch he eventually purchased was all set up, so it allowed him to simply move in with all of his animals and continue to grow. John joined his efforts that same year. Nancy came by the next year to help with the small population of birds. The rest is history.

BC: What really got the ball rolling for you? Going from longhorn cattle to zebras is a bit of a shift.
Peter: Depends on who’s doing it. It seemed pretty straightforward at the time.

BC: I heard you still move animals for zoos.
Peter: John and I are two of the half dozen or so people who transport giraffes and other animals for zoos in the AZA. We don’t do it for a living, but we sort of do it for, well, you can’t call it a vacation. Driving a big truck with a 30-foot trailer holding a couple of giraffes and other stuff. But we enjoy it. We go on two round the country drives annually moving animals. They are fun because these trips are primarily when there is a lot of exchange of animals and it allows time to visit and see what is new with the various zoos and other AZA members.

BC: With the impressive new degree program under development, what are your next aspirations for Safari West and yourself?
Peter: The education side is all Nancy. I’ve done enough in my life. I’m happy getting up each morning. I have a few things left in my soul. Art. I like painting. I like sculpture. I haven’t painted for a couple of years because I’ve been so busy. I want to get back to that.

BC: Do you paint the animals?
Peter: I do that. I can do most anything. I like metal and wood sculpture.

BC: The wood furniture and functional pieces all over the area are fabulous.
Peter: We have fun doing that here. People would like to buy what we make but we do not make things on consignment. We are tripling the size of the gift shop. Part of that is going to be for me, to make stuff and to fill people’s wishes instead of saying, “Ah, I’ll talk to you later.” It will be nice to be able say, “Go up and take a look, and if you like it, it’s yours.” I can’t say I’ll make a table just like another. I can’t get the next piece of wood just like the last one. That is why I can’t do things on commission. John tells our tales better than I. He makes them fun and spicy.

John, our guide responsible for so much of the information in this article and Peter’s right hand in running Safari West, informed our tour group that wood for tables, doors, lamps, vanities, dressers, and everything at Safari West, except the chairs, were handcrafted by Peter. He had help from John and a few staff members. Wood is gathered from local road crews saving the county disposal costs. Peter and John go out with a truck and trailer and collect the wood. Sometimes wood is brought in by neighbors clearing fallen trees or excess growth. All trees that fall on Safari West property are left to add to the habitat, unless it is blocking a roadway. On our safari’s return to the complex, John pointed out a large pile of rough chunks of wood drying. It was amazing to think that from that humble pile of wood came all the wood fixtures and furniture.

BC: John said Safari West is helping to keep species alive. Please elaborate.
Nancy: We have species that are extinct in the wild. We have the Addax and Scimitar Horned Oryx. There are some new programs going on where they will be released into the wild and down the road we will participate in those. In the meantime, we focus on education about species that are endangered or extinct because of habitat encroachment, human activity, and in some cases, a combination of both. We are working to make people, especially young people, aware of what they can do.

I’d like to tell a story about what one person can do. A friend of mine named Graham worked at the San Francisco Zoo. He started out as part-time veterinarian. He volunteered in Madagascar part of the year, working with the lemurs and learning why they were becoming extinct in the wild. He ended up setting up a program, in conjunction with other people and the Madagascar government. They are breeding lemurs in captive situations like our lemurs. They reintroduced them into Madagascar in breeding groups. Now young pairs being released in the wild are again breeding.

That story is an example of what one person can do. So many times kids are told there is nothing left. Everything has been destroyed. There is no hope. But there are so many good things and so much can be done. It is important that young people understand they can make a difference.
Madagascar lemurs had become nearly extinct, as their rain forest habitat was being clear-cut to create arable land for the world’s consumers increased demand for Madagascar vanilla. Vanilla bean farmers expanded due to economic need to survive. Cutting rain forests down and driving lemurs to the edge of extinction was not based on needless greed but a matter of economics for family subsistence. People in our country do not understand the simple facts of survival in third world countries and choices they have to make. The benefit in the situation of the competing industries of vanilla and tourism is that visitors to the rain forests to see lemurs give an option for income as tour guides.

In Zimbabwe, hunting many animals was banned. Native populations continued to lead hunters into the wild as a form of income, poaching. The government tried fines and picking them up but it did not stopping hunting. To change the situation, the government set up a number of preserves for hunting with safe limits. The most local village to each preserve manage it, taking in hunters for specified limits. It provides an ongoing income so those once poachers are now conservationists. They will now take out anyone who tries to poach their wild animals on their preserves. The limits set for hunters do not endanger any species. It has been a wildly successful program. Money earned goes to the local people. They set up councils and decided what to do with it. They’ve built schools and a grainery, etc., whatever was needed by each community to survive and grow.

Safari West is also wildly successful and continues to grow. On July 3rd, there will be a Red White and Blues concert and on the 4th of July at Safari West the public is invited to celebrate the birth of a nation and the many recent births at Safari West. The fee is $60 for adults to enjoy a BBQ and hour tour on the African Queen party wagon. Kids are less. There is a great lineup of adorable babies. In the past several months, a baby ring-tailed lemur, ruffed-tailed lemur, two giraffes, an African-crested porcupine, aoudad sheep, watusi cattle, and several species of antelope, including gemsbok, waterbuck, and springbok plus two adorable baby bongos, have been born and can be seen by visitors.

Safari West does not advertise. Those who find them do so from articles in publications such as Bay Crossings, television features, and the Internet. In this quiet way, and by word-of-mouth, they annually host 35,000 people. They are looking into more safari jeeps and tent cabins. Most who have been there go back and bring friends, coworkers, and family. Nancy mentioned that a few of their friends who have lived in Africa come to stay a few nights when they get homesick. When you’re ready to try something really different, take the River Road exit off Highway 101 north. The approach to the exit is also marked Calistoga/Mark West Springs Rd. Exit the freeway and turn RIGHT. You will be on Mark West Springs Road heading East toward Calistoga. Remain on this road for 7 miles. At Franz Valley Road, turn LEFT directly into the entrance. For more directions, information, a virtual tour, or reservations, call (707) 575-2551, (800) 616-2695, or www.safariwest.com.

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Grads and Dads

By Mary Swift-Swan

Set in the hills facing San Francisco, in the sister city of Berkeley, stands the castle-like Claremont Spa & Resort that has pampered guests for over 80 years. The Claremont is the perfect place to return to after a full day of enjoying the area. Once settled in, the temptation to simply enjoy the many luxurious and rich opportunities this castle-like resort offers is striking.

Thirty-five to forty years ago, the Claremont’s carpets showed wear and tear and the grounds needed an update. The property did not disguise the outlines of its former grandness or its antiquity. On weekends, the ballroom was a youth dance hall with “go-go” girls dancing near two stages where bands played for hundreds of high school kids. It was a fun place for those under drinking age. In that era, before drugs and youth gangs, those kinds of venues were possible. Due to the ever kind, professional, and security-conscious staff, parents did not have to worry if their kids were at the Claremont. Kids were respectful of the Claremont as an active elegant hotel, although it was also the place high school graduates went for a right of passage.

High school grads were dared to sneak, in very small groups so as not to alarm staff or disturb hotel guests, to upper floors to find the laundry shoot. Kids that were slim and fit were the only ones who could do it. No Levis or clothes with bits of metal, even shoes and belts were removed to avoid making noise by scraping or banging the metal sides of the circular shoot. Down several stories in the dark, circular laundry shoot they would fly, holding their mouths to suppress the screams of fear and delight so as not to be heard by guests or management. The end of the ride was always uncertain; was the door locked, was there a basket on rollers, or just the ground or hotel staff with police waiting? Each kid had to quickly move out of the way or there would be a pileup at the back of the hotel. With no time to loose, in case the staff noticed, kids quickly dusted themselves off. They reassembled themselves, then returned to the front of the hotel, where they tried to act natural as they rejoined the dance or went to their cars. (Lost a tennis shoe in the shoot. It was hard to act natural with just one shoe.) They tried not to be obvious, gush about the moment, or laugh loudly or they’d get caught. Not getting in trouble and avoiding upsetting the hotel operators or guests was all part of the thrill and the rite.

Those kids are now grown, many with their own kids or even grandkids graduating from high schools and colleges this month. The hotel has renewed itself and is again a local favorite as a well-loved place for fun. If a middle-aged baby boomer is noticed with a nostalgic smile, one might inquire if they grew up nearby. The laundry shoot is not an option anymore, only a memory. Many of these former “pranksters” can now afford to stay at The Claremont, instead of experiencing the hotel by jumping down the laundry shoot feet first. It is very gratifying for those who knew it back when to see the hotel returned to its original grandeur as an elegant resort with sparkling pools and modern touches like the Spa.

After checking in, you may find upon entering your room a scrumptious display of strawberries and cream in a “box” made entirely of chocolate, plus a bottle of chilled champagne, just waiting for the right moment. If it’s exercise you’re after, there are two outdoor pools and tennis courts to enjoy. After exercising or enjoying the area’s many wonderful sites, indulge in a massage and save some time to lounge about the pool. Hot tubs, steam rooms, and saunas are also available at the fine European Spa. Bathrooms have whirlpool tubs. Luxurious bathrobes hang in the closet, so warm and embracing that it might almost be sad to get dressed for dinner. But do it. The dining experience is worth a trip to the hotel on its own. Jordan’s Restaurant treats guests to a variety of pleasant music while enjoying a sumptuous four-course meal at the Claremont’s signature restaurant. A perfect way to end a day spent celebrating Father’s Day, graduation, a special occasion, or anyday of summer, fall, winter, or spring. Claremont Hotel, 41 Tunnel Road, Berkeley, CA. 510-843-3000,
www.claremontresort.com.

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“Glad U are My Dad”

By Elianna Reuben

I am Elianna, daughter #1 of the famous photographer, Mark Reuben. I am 10 now.

Together, he and I feed the birds, go to his boat and play games. We take pictures together, too, and go sailing. I show him my great gymnastics tricks, watch movies, go to special places, and more... but what I absolutely love doing with him is being alone with him, talking and (him) telling me things to act out and me doing it. For example, one time he told me to act out me walking down the street and seeing my long-lost friend, Sabrina, who is probably in Colorado, and my reaction to that. My brother Joseph likes to act things out, too. We love it especially because we love acting and our dream is to be on TV.

Anyways, Mark Reuben has a number of “perfect” photography galleries featuring sports champions like Barry Bonds, Babe Ruth, Tiger Woods, and much more. He also has famous pictures of heroes, like Helen Keller and Amelia Earhart. His “perfect” galleries also have beautiful landscapes of California, such as the Golden Gate Bridge, Mount Shasta, Yosemite, and he also has pictures of different times in history. For instance, the Gold Rush in 1848. There are pictures of Albert Einstein and Teddy Roosevelt. Amazing great pictures of famous celebrities, too, like Shirley Temple, Hilary Duff, and more. My Dad is an excellent photographer! Sometimes, I help my Dad sign his photographs. Not signing his name for him, but writing the theme of the picture. For instance, one time I wrote “The Gold Rush.” I also help him mat his pictures and do other things. One time, when I was little, my Mom went to get a coffee and my Dad had to get something. While they was gone, I sold a picture (by myself). Just saying this again, My Dad, Mark Rueben, is a wonderful and great photographer!!