Quick Trip To Africa

I would like to extend a warm Welcome to newest Follower, MargieAnne.  I am pleased to have you join my list of followers and I extend a great big THANK YOU for visiting my blog.

We've made a couple of trips over to Disney's Animal Kingdom park since getting here.  It is the newest of the 4 theme parks.  There are many different things to see and do here, but our favorite is the Kilimanjaro Safari attraction.  To get to this ride you walk to the far back of the Africa section of the Animal Kingdom.  You walk through a Disney-created rural African town named Harambe.  Although a much sanitized version of a real African town in a rural area, much of the look is authentic.

The buildings are plain and simple with true to life architecture and detailing.  (click on photos for larger view)

We have taken this photo-safari 4 times since arriving at WDW.  Each time it is different because of the animal sightings.  The animals roam through this large grassland, or savannah, and sometimes you see them in one area...then next time in another area....and sometimes you won't see a particular species at all.  It is all a matter of luck, which is why we take this ride several times each visit to WDW.  This safari offers as realistic an experience as you will find outside of Africa.  Approximate 30 guests board special trucks that take you on a trip through the 100-acre savannah.  You can spot giraffe, impala, gazelles, and various type of African cattle.  In special areas you may see lion, hippos, rhino, cheetah and Nile Crocodile.  And many more.

Here are just a few of what we have seen (click for larger view):

The ride throught the savannah is bouncy most of the time as the roads are dirt and rutted in spots.  The drivers cannot stop to allow photos, so you have to be ready.  They will stop if an animal crosses in the truck's path.  Many years ago we were here when an ostrich got very close to the truck and even stuck his head right up to the people in the seats.  A little scary as an ostrich can be agressive if he wants to be.

Anyway, we enjoyed our trip to Africa again.  It has been slowly getting warmer and warmer here in the Orlando area.  We are expecting highs near 90 degrees this weekend.  We have had some thunderstorms in the evenings the past 3 days and that has kept us cooler.  I knew it wouldn't last!   Hope you enjoy the photos of some of the animals.

Until next time......so long for now!