Trekking at Animal Kingdom

When we were at WDW, I went on an extra-curricular excursion that I had signed up for several months in advance.  Animal Kingdom now offers (for an additional fee, of course) a 3-hour guided hike/jeep safari through some of the back areas of the wild animal park.  The groups are limited to 12, and the guides are very knowledgeable and you can ask questions until you can't think of any more.  We hiked along the river, past the hippo pool and then over the Nile crocs, and ended up in our own safari jeep.  We would scoot in and out of the tour groups, pull over on the side of the road to observe the animals, take little side roads that the tour didn't take, and stopped at a boma (a safari camp) for a lunch break.  After that, more jeep touring and animal watching.  I took the tour for the hike and for the opportunity to take photos, and I was not disappointed.  Great experience.  I would do it again in a heartbeat!

We had to cross two rope suspension bridges during the hike--they went over the hippo pool and the croc pool.  I am NOT a fan of heights, but we were outfitted with vests that had a safety line on the back, which attached to the overhead cables.  Plus, the sides of the bridges were quite high, and there was netting on the sides and below.  You could NOT fall--it just looked and felt that way.  The strategically missing slats, and the "broken" slats made it tricky for someone like me who has short legs--some of those gaps were quite a stretch.  It was scary going directly over the crocs, especially with the bridge bouncing because someone was coming behind me, but it was still a lot of fun.

 What a ham, smiling for the camera.  Did you know that a group of hippos is a bloat....as in a bloat of hippos?  How appropriate!!!

 At the croc pool we hooked our safety lines up to a metal track, and were able to lean out over the edge of the cliff to look down on the crocs.  Yes, I did.

 Two species of giraffe--the 2 smaller ones are reticulated giraffes, and the larger one is a Masai giraffe.  They were all really curious and got quite close to our jeep.

 From his expression, I don't think he particularly liked breakfast.....

 Lunch at the boma came in a 2-layer tin.  Each layer contained food.  We had melon balls and brie, yogurt with cranberries, smoked salmon with dilled cream cheese, proscuitto, air-dried beef, pita rounds, jicama and cucumber salad, and a delicious apricot nut bar.  Add to that a mango-passion fruit drink and it was a delicious meal.  Even the orchid was edible (slight grassy aftertaste...)  It was really fun to sit in the shade at the boma, eat this delicious meal and watch the animals out on the "veldt". 



Disney Princess Half-Marathon

We had a great family trip last week down to DisneyWorld. R had wanted us all to go to DW, and had set aside the funds to do so, and told us to go with or without him.  So, we had the RF Memorial Tour and had a blast, knowing that he was watching us and enjoying it as well.

L decided early on that she was going to run the Disney Princess Half-Marathon...a significant undertaking for her because she is not a runner, and training in the snowy cold MidWest this time of year made it doubly difficult.  But she perservered and she and her friend D signed up and ran the marathon.  I am so proud of both of them--they had to get up at 4am (D even earlier, since she lives in Orlando and had to drive to DW) and be ready to race even before the sun rose.

Evidently there is a woman who runs the race who has balloons tied to her.  She follows the pack of runners, and if you fall behind her, you are picked up and taken to the Finish Line because your time isn't good enough.  L's goal was not to set records; her goal was to stay ahead of the Balloon Lady and to finish.  She did well--she actually would've finished sooner but she had her camera and had to stop for photo ops with the Disney characters who were stationed along the route.  Way to go, L!  You CAN do hard things!

B and I got up, got the girls up, and caught the 4:45 AM bus (yes, you read that right) to the starting line.  We saw all 3 groups start, but it was pitch dark and there were several thousand runners.  L and D were not expecting to see us at the Start, so they weren't even looking for us.  We went to a couple of the mile posts along the race to wait to cheer L and D on.  The girls weren't in to watching the runners--thank goodness for B's iPhone and the game apps....

G gave up.  It was too early for her and all the walking wore her out.

By the time we had seen them at the 8.1 milepost, we were all pretty tired.  We tried to get to the finish line, but the crowds at the Transportation Center were so thick, we couldn't get there.  We were standing in line when L texted us that she had finished.  We took a roundabout route getting back to the hotel, and everyone (except me) crashed during the bus ride.

I think one of my favorite things about the half-marathon was that a large percentage of the runners dressed up. (Note L's sparkly headband and skirt---one MUST look good while running!)  I loved that the women dressed like princesses and Disney characters, and managed to run well.  My favorite was a woman dressed as Princess Leia---completely unexpected--but hey, Leia IS a princess! 

We saw fairies,

Woody and Jessie,

Snow White,

Jasmine and Cinderella,

and 2 more versions of Cinderella, in long ball gowns.

We saw more tutus than one could count.  BUT----my favorites were the men.  There were a lot of guys running the race along with their runners, supporting them.   We saw a bevy of Beauty and her beast, several Princess Tiana and her Frog (in fact, one guy was dressed in a head-to-foot frog costume).  I loved the fact that the guys had a sense of humor and were willing to embrace the hidden princess within.

This guy was one of my favorites.  Head-to-toe full Fairy Godmother, complete with ballgown, white wig and tiara, long white gloves, and the bippity-boppity-boo wand.

I mean, how can you not like a guy who can wear a tutu with such flair?  Besides, he looked better in his tutu than a lot of the women runners....

This guy even managed to wear the pink mouse ears complete with bridal veil, and a tutu.

This guy was soooo funny.  Love the fuzzy headpiece.  He had one of the prettiest tutus out there.

All in all, it was a great experience.  I am so proud of L for all the time and effort she put into training for this, and for finishing the race!  It wasn't easy, but she did it.  Yea, L!