Guests at the Serengeti Resort can get up-close and personal with the property's many exotic animal varieties.
By Elena Tucker - Staff Writer
Published: Monday, March 9, 2009 12:15 PM CDT
It was only a year ago that Lori Hagee felt the first tickle of an improbable notion - the crazy idea that her ranch-type home might become the grand lodge for an African-themed boutique resort."I don't know why it didn't seem bizarre," the real estate developer said.Last fall Hagee's unlikely idea not only sprang to life, but has since taken off with such vigor that the original vision is now branching off into a variety of surprising directions.Located in Bergheim, the Serengeti Resort opened on Nov. 8 as a exotic animal park that's open to the public as a wine-tasting destination and setting for special events such as parties and weddings. After the New Year, the facility began accepting overnight guests as well.
Response thus far has exceeded even Hagee's vision, she said."We didn't start lodging until the second week of January but we've already booked 220 reservations in five weeks. We have only six Saturdays left in all of 2009 for booking weddings," Hagee said.Area day-trippers who don't wish to spend the night or book a party can simply show up to rent a golf cart that seats four for $35 an hour and spend several hours of daylight viewing the ostriches, giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, eland, addax, aoudad and elk. Also available are stargazing platforms, nature trails, hayrides and trail rides.There is no charge for admission to the resort's grounds.Another option for couples or families is a ride in either the horse-pulled carriage or canopied wagon. With the driver serving as tour guide in both instances, the 20-minute carriage ride is $20 per person while the 20-minute horse-drawn canopied wagon costs $8 per person and holds 14 adults. Reservations are required for both excursions.For all visitors, a large patio area is available to sit and relax while enjoying a glass of wine, meats and cheeses from the deli, watching the sunset or the stars. Children can also play on the playground, feed fruit to the Madagascar lemurs and pet the 5 month-old baby camel, Clyde.Hagee, who's still coming to terms with staffing issues for such a large facility, knows what it's like to change bed sheets and to get up at 5:30 in order to cook breakfast for her guests.Her familiarity is born of years at the Arbuckle Wilderness Park, a drive-through destination in southern Oklahoma that attracted upwards of 200,000 people each year. Eventually Lori Hagee served for 13 years as operations manager there.The family also owned a Colorado resort for many years before selling both and moving to the Hill Country in the 1990s."So I kind of have hands-on experience with theme parks and hospitality. And I have a history with exotic animals. We've had giraffes since I was small and my boys were raised with chimpanzees," Hagee said.It seems the move to Texas didn't quash Hagee's entrepreneurial tendencies. A self-described "real estate person," though Hagee feels her true calling to be church ministry, for now the Serengeti Resort is both vocation and avocation enough."This is what I do," Hagee said. "I take a piece of property and I develop the best and highest use for that piece of land. And the best and highest use for this - that's what it's become."The resort features more than 45 varieties of imported wine, mostly from countries south of the equator including South Africa, New Zealand, Chile and Argentina."This is intended as a place where people can sit, drink wine and relax," Hagee said.As of Saturday, the Serengeti Resort will be open to visitors seven days a week.Serengeti's "boutique resort" component a currently offers four rooms, but plans call for 10 spacious, themed bush lodges by the end of the year. Accommodations cost between $150 and $395 per night.Last, at least for now, is the resort's availability as an event venue and themed-meal destination. Opening later this month will be a western-themed site featuring a cowboy gunfight and steak dinner.By May, Hagee hopes to make available a Jerusalem house, intended to appeal primarily to church groups. The Jerusalem house will incorporate biblical study related to wine, wine-tasting, communion, and dinner in an "Upper Room-type" patio setting.However, of all the Serengeti's current and future highlights, Hagee said one of her favorite things about the resort is the night sky. Each night for a time, outdoor electricity is extinguished and guests are encouraged to focus their sights upward."It's really cool to sit out here and hear the noises: the ostriches bellowing and the elks bugling. It's pitch black except for the stars and it's beautiful," Hagee said.The Serengeti Resort is at 408 Fuller Dr. in Bergheim. For more information call 830-816-3600 or go online to http://www.serengetiresort.com/.
