Wanyama Sunrise Safari


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North America » United States » Florida » Orlando » Disney World
October 4th 2010
Published: October 6th 2010
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Up at 6am and I'm looking for a coffee! Who booked a damned Sunrise Safari?
Off to the club lounge to validate our entitlement to visit the Animal Kingdom park and then (after I find coffee) it's off to meet our Guide. Then we might be off on a Safari.
We congregate in the Lobby of the Animal Kingdom Lodge and are introduced to 2 guides, then we wait, and wait, and ... 40 minutes late we start off on our safari. I really have little patience for late arrivals and believe if you don't turn up on time then you miss out! There end up being about 30 of us in total and once we are separated into 2 groups we are introduced to our Guide who turns out to be an Orlando native who started out his life as an Aligator wrestler. Chatting to him was fascinating, but more about Jay later.
After separation, we are herded onto a couple of busses. The busses take us to the Animal Kingdom park where we make our way on foot to Discovery Island where the Tree of Life resides. Then we need to walk to the land of Africa and the Harambe Wildlife Reserve. Each group gets it's own open-air safari vehicle that takes you through an African style savannah. During our tour we see Gazelles, Giraffes, Rhino, Elephants, Lions, Crocodiles, Cheetahs, Apes, Ostrich, Buzzards and Flamingo. We were lucky enough to spot the newest addition to the Animal Kingdom park, a baby elephant about 3 months old being a little cheeky and escaping from Mum for a quick run around. We were also lucky enough to see both the Lion and Lioness in the same area sitting resting. There is no doubt that when Disney design something, they certainly go all out to get it right, and they have certainly done that with the African savannah at Animal Kingdom Park.
Breakfast, Yes. Our tour of the savannah wrapped up and our groups head to Pizzafari for our buffet breakfast. We walk into a large area where breakfast is all cooked for us, tables laid out, coffee and juices prepared and all we needed to do was decide where to sit and start eating. As usual, the amount of food on offer could feed a small country but this time the variety is also extensive. All in all, a well prepared feast which I am sure we all enjoyed. Seating: We seated ourselves at a 4 seater table so we were graced with the presence of Jay at our table. Facsinating gentleman to talk to. Jay became an aligator wrestler at a young age and progressed to looking after and learning about other wildlife. He met his wife in the trade, she is apparently employed by Disney at Animal Kingdom park looking after the animals also. Jay's interest in Australian Salt Water crocs and our interest in the Florida wildlife led us all to a most fascinating conversation covering animals, tornadoes and the unintentional spread of some of the wildlife several decades ago. Getting on to 10am and time for us to stop chewing Jay's ear, let him get on with his day and for us to explore the park some more. Off to ride the Dinosaur in DinoLand U.S.A. which I can say did not make Jnr happy as it was a ride with many loud noises, unexpected twists and turns and Dino's ready to eat her.
It's an unusually hot day, so exploring the park seems to be more exhausting than previously however we soldier on and get some more rides done to keep Jnr happy! After all we are here for her aren't we?
After a bit, it's time to visit my fav chain of rest's, Rainforest Cafe. Let's see a nice cocktail (Pina Colava) at the bar will do it I believe. We did Discovery Island and Mrs took a few photo's (circa 1000) and then it was back to the Lodge for a rest before hitting Hollywood Studios for the latter part of the day.


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