Meeting the King of the Jungle is a dream and being able to pat it & see them from an arms length is an experience of a lifetime!! And I could do both! Lions Safari & Park in Johannesburg is situated at an hour drive from Johannesburg where you can opt for driving across the protected park where animals live freely or there is guided safari where they take you across the park.There is also special enclosure where you can pat lion cubs & cheetah for an additional charge. Though it seemed the ones in the enclosure were sedated for being able to come close with humans without causing harm but gave me goosebumps nonetheless. The only animals in cage were us!!
We had scheduled our visit to sync with the feeding time of the animals. Feedings are normally done on weekends to facilitate the visitors but you have to be there on time. Feeding tours start from 12:00pm & 3Pm while mini feeding tours depart at 11:00 m & 2:30pm. The tours & safaris wait for none & are generally full. Though self driving across the park gives you the freedom of time but I would prefer the guided tour as it is informative & they will take you to places where you have good chances of sightings & also will not miss out as everything is on time. There are various types of safaris & otehr activities at different charges,the details of which can be found http://www.lionandsafaripark.com/Rates
There are other animals which are also hosted like giraffes, crocodiles, ostrich etc. And one can feed the giraffe with food bag bought over counter.
A must visit if you are in Johannesburg!!