Animal Kingdom and Epcot

It was a big parks day. I rolled out of bed at 7, had some oatmeal, and threw on some clothes. We left the house at 7:45 to go to Animal Kingdom for the early opening. We got right on the Kilimanjaro Safari ride. It was still cool, so there didn’t seem to be as many animals roaming as usual. However we still saw bongos, rhinos, ostriches, wildebeests, wart hog, a beautiful male lion, an elephant, some cattle and antelope, and a few others.

Then we went on the Pangani Trail. We saw the usual wonderful animals. Two okapi were up close to the fence browsing on food. I love those animals. We saw a gerenuk (a very long-necked antelope) on its hind legs grazing on a tree. In the aviary a hammerkop was gathering sticks to build one of its huge nests. The gorillas were quite active this morning. Several were playing with large plastic canteens that the keepers must have put some treats in. We could see them shaking the canteens and sticking their fingers in the canteens to get the goodies out. And there were two large silver-backed gorillas prowling about. We love this trail.

We then left the park as hoards of people were coming in. We stopped by the RV to change clothes and then headed over to Epcot to meet Don and Marta. We spent the day there. Bill and Don got fast passes for Test Track and then went on Mission Space. We met them back at the Land and took the Land ride. We had lunch at Sunshine Seasons where I had a great chicken/chili/noodle soup. Then the guys went back to ride Test Track. Marta and I wandered through Innoventions West which is a variety of interactive areas sponsored by major companies. We found a great show called What is the Problem sponsored by Velcro. It was really cute and interesting. At the end we got a Velcro frog that we got to dress with Velcro clothing items and mouse ears.

We went on Spaceship Earth, and then Don and rode Soarin’. Then we wandered around the World Showcase. Bill got a Grand Marnier slushy which was wonderful. We went on around the World stopping to see the great acrobat show at China. Marta and Don were pooped by then and went on back to their hotel. Bill and I went to Morocco for dinner. It has been years since we went there, and it was quite enjoyable. We had an appetizer of mixture of cheese and kalamata olives served with tobouleh, red pepper sauce, and balsamic vinegar reduction with lavosh. I had Harira Soup - Traditional hearty soup flavored with tomatoes, lentils and lamb. For my entrée I had Couscous Royale - couscous with beef, chicken, and merguez (lamb sausage). We also had hot mint tea which was great. A belly dancer performed with a Moroccan band.

By then, we were tired, so we came on back to the RV to crash.