The one thing we did plan (aside from where to stay and one dinner at the California Grill) was the Wild Africa Trek. We’ve done a few Disney tours and really enjoyed ourselves on them. They offer a slightly different perspective on the whole operation and for someone who goes to Disney just to go for a day or two, they are well worth doing. Keys to the Kingdom, as a side note, was amazing and definitely worth doing once you have been to the Majic Kingdom a time or two.

  We started out at Animal Kingdom a little after 7am. The instructions for the tour said to be there no later than 7:30 and my fear of being late … well … we were early. It was a vaguely creepy feeling to be the third car in the parking lot, but we were excited so we foraged on. Without coffee I should add.  

 You put on a whole bunch of saftey gear and put anything that could fall into a locker. So for me, no phone, no camera. My camera does not have a strap to attach it to me so it could not go. But this was not a major problem since the guides take pictures along the way and we get a code to download them at the end of the tour. On one hand it was neat to not worry about getting a perfect shot, but on the other hand, I felt like I was missing something. Probably the lack of control over what pictures would be taken, but it realy didn’t bother me too much. 

 We started with monkeys and birds. While wandering though this part of the park you started to wonder why the safety gear was needed. Was this all for show?  

   No, not really. The bridge is safer than it looks – most of the weird spacing and “broken planks” are probably deliberate  but it was still unnerving. More unnerving when asked to stop part way over the bridge with it swaying and crocodiles under it.  

 But the real reason we got  hooked to saftey equiptment was when we were standing over the animals – hippos and crocodiles specifically. There was no fence and if you lost your footing, got jostiled or just misstepped you could easily go over. So we had the back harness to keep us away from the animals. 

 I have to say, I did like the hippos more than the crocodiles. They were just cuter. Yes, I used cute to describe a two ton animal.

   

 After tthe jungle area we unhooked and went onto the savannah area in the park. I’ve done the safari ride a dozen times probably and this was a really great view. We got to stop and really watch the animals  and the guides were incredible. They knew the animals by name and the habits and personal quirks of each.  

   The elephant likes to dunk her hay in the water. Its not an elephant thing, its just her thing. The girafffess are going to the fence so often because two other giraffes are nearing their due date and in the barn. They like to be close by.  

   The cattle and wildabeast are just majestic to look at. I know, najestic and wildabest do not usually go in the same sentence, but I thought they did.  

   We stopped for brunch and were able to just look over the savannah. It was very peaceful, but a little chilly. We did have a great view of the flamingos. 

     Of course we also saw the zebras, addax and ostriches.  

   Then we hit my favorite part of the trip. Cats. Big cats. Cute, furry felines. There is nnothing like a cat for me. I know the elephants and giraffe are majestic and the antalope are graceful but the cats combine it all. The I don’t give a darn attitude, the grace  and power  are all combined. Just look at the lion and tell me she isn’t gorgeous.  

 I think the lion on her own made the trip worth it. I just needed my meerkat fix after the tour and we were set. Our guides, Kelsey and Megan were incredible (just in case I didn’t mention it before). 

    And for dinner I got my view.