On Sunday, we took the Disney bus from the hotel to the Animal Kingdom. Mommy and Savta had never been there before. (They had been to the Magic Kingdom--the original Disney World--and to Epcot, both in the 1980s with Justin, and also in 1995 from Uncle Nadav and Jon, an exchange student from Spain.)
As we walked along, Zekey saw a cool crocodile statue so climbed on it (with help from Mommy). I climbed on behind him. As we walked, we saw shops and neat scenery.
Savta said that the Animal Kingdom is a mix of shows, rides, and a nice zoo. She liked it a lot. We all liked it. Neither Mommy nor savta rented a stroller today...and Zekey really wanted to be carried a lot. Mommy had a very sore back by the end of the day. Poor mommy.
First we went to get a fast pass for the Kilimanjaro Safari where we go in a truck through different parts of Africa and see a lot of animals. We had an hour or so to wait before we could go right in with our fast pass, so we went all the way back to Camp Minnie-Mickey to see the Festival of the Lion King, a really cool show. Mommy and Savta said that the singers were really really really good, especially the four main ones. Two fo them are below.
Some of the dancers were very tall. Savta said that they were on sticks called stilts.
Then four big animals (not real) came out on floats. Zekey and I liked all of them. Savta liked Simba the lion the best and then the warthog. They were funny when the moved. Before they came out, each part of the audience was given the job to make a different sound of the 4 animals. We got to be lions and had the coolest sound.
Doesn't Simbo look cool???!!!!!
Then the gymnasts came out and Mommy said that they were really good. She said that would be her dream job--maybe for a day or two, I think. There was a trampoline in the middle and the gymnasts could really jump high.
Timon, the meercat, was pretty silly.
Everyone moved so fast during the show that it was hard for savta to take good pictures. (She couldn't use a flash.)
The end of the show was really cool too.
By the exit to the show, there were lots of Disney characters, Donald Duck and Chip and Dale had long lines, so we didn't stay.
First we stopped by a well. Savta tried to explain it to me but I really didn't understand. I did drink from the water fountain on the well though. Maybe the water came from under the well?
Along the path , we saw Daisy and Donald's nephews, Huey, Dewey, and Louie.
We also saw some pretty cool benches, like the one above.
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| Divers Jonah and Zekey |
We got back to the Kilimanjaro Safari and boarded a truck to go on the safari. We saw lots and lots of animals, real ones, on the safari.
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| The first okapi we saw |
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| More egrets |
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| Hippos |
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| Hippo close up and more birds |
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| Lots of Crocodiles |
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| A croc close up |
We saw a really weird tree called a Baobab tree. It gets fatter when it stores water in its truck, and then animals can open it somehow and drink the water. Savta said we can read more about the baobab tree at: http://www.baobab-solutions.com/the_baobab.htm
Our driver said that insects live in the hills below. Sometimes elephants or other animals scratch themselves on the hills and they break.
We went around a corner and saw our first giraffe.
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| A giraffi almost hidden in the tall grass |
We had to wait for the giraffe below to cross the path in front of us.
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| This giraffe was resting |
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| Our first elephant--with small ears |
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| Really big beobab tree with elephant next to it |
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| Flamingos |
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| A tush of a big animal |
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| Animals on the "safari"--part 1 |
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| Animals on the "safari"--part 2 |
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| Ostrich eggs |
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| Rhinos |
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| Comparison of Okapi & Giraffe |
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| Ocapi |
After we got off the safari truck, we walked down a path to the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail. Mommy was really happy to go inside a building that was heated to see some small animals. I didn't like it as much but it was warmer.
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| Turtle hiding |
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| African Bullfrog |
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| Ornate Spiny-tailed lizard |
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| Emperor Scorpion
Then we went into this BIG area with lots and lots of birds. You can see the names of some of them below. They had charts for us to borrow. I wanted to make sure we returned ours to the right place. That's savta's thumb in the picture.
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| Taveta Golden Weaver |
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| Raquet-tailed Roller |
Because it was so cold, this bird came down low today and we could see it. See the split tail!
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| Pretty Blue bird--maybe a green wood Hoopoe |
This bird was up high and was building a nest. Maybe a roller?
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| An up-side-down bird |
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| A white-headed Buffalo Weaver |
We also saw fish in ponds
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| Pygmy Goose and Hammerkop |
We walked out to another area and saw gorillas. Yay!
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| A young one playing with a bag |
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| Add caption |
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| A baby |
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| A big one |
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| A monkey with Mommy
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| I liked playing drums |
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| Zekey did too |
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Mommy tickled me! |
We then saw a neat bird show. Birds did lots of tricks--for treats.
He caught a treat that someone threw into the air.
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| Falcon or hawk |
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| The owl flew in over these men's heads |
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| Crown Crane |
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| Bald Eagle |
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| Scarlet Macaw |
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| Macaw flying over the guano guy |
After the show, we saw a band and another stilt walker. This time we could see the stilts.
Mommy tried to get Zekey and me to dance with her.
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| A spoonbill |
Then we went to the Dinosaur Bones play area. Zekey and I had a LOT of fun there. Mommy and Savta got lost and I looked for them inside the play area. They thought I was lost and they were looking for me. They were worried and so was I but I found them finally.
After that we got our picture taken with Goofy and Pluto. We had to stand in a line for a while.
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| Pluto signing an autograph |
Then we went on a ride.
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| This isn't us though |
By then it was time to leave. We had to go to a special restaurant at the Swan hotel where we would meet Pluto and maybe others.
I wanted to see Mickey but Mommy said that he was probably at another restaurant.
When we got to the restaurant, we found out it was barbecue buffet....oops...but Mommy and Timna did find something to eat and I had mac and cheese and lots of bread.
We also found another place to try on more hats!!
We had a lot of fun today, even if it was super cold...sunny but only 50 degrees (10 C).
