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Sounds like a great day at the Food and Wine Festival. Lots of good tastings. I am putting that apple margarita on the must try list for my next visit. Sounds delicious. What a great time you had with your girls!
You won't regret the apple margarita!
__________________
October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
Awesome first time experiencing the Food & Wine Festival! Everything you tried is so delicious.
I learned from the best!
Quote:
Originally Posted by KathleenAnn
Sounds like a great day at the Food and Wine Festival. Lots of good tastings. I am putting that apple margarita on the must try list for my next visit. Sounds delicious. What a great time you had with your girls!
It was an awesome day and Dave is right! You should definitely put that margarita on your list!!
Today was the day we moved over to AKL and I was beyond excited!! I had a great nights gets sleep and was up and ready to go by 5:30 this morning. I had to be at AKL for my Sense of Africa tour by 6:45 AM and I wanted to drop off my luggage and get checked in beforehand, so I got a quick shower, got dressed and woke Muffin just to say goodbye. He told me to have fun and that he would text me when he was on his way and then promptly went back to sleep!
I called a Lyft and again waited no more than 5 minutes for my driver to arrive. I arrived at Jambo House by 6:20 and was able to check on and store my luggage before heading back to the Sunset Lounge where the tour met.
There were a few people there along with our guides for the morning, Karen and Jen. There were a total of 12 guests scheduled for the tour and after everyone arrived, they formally introduced themselves and explained a little bit about the tour.
Then they had us go around and introduce ourselves, say where we were from, what our favorite wild animal was and why we chose this tour. We all signed waivers and got a lanyard with our name tags and then headed to Boma for breakfast.
As we entered the restaurant, we were greeted by our own personal server, who explained that a Boma in Swahili meant a safe enclosure. I have dined here many times and never knew that! She was delightful and explained a little bit about a few of the African foods served and their origins as she took us through the buffet.
Most of the exotic food served here, such as Pap, are traditional African inspired dishes with tribal origins. For example, Pap was cooked in kettle drums all day by the women and then served to the tribal council. The women had to taste it first to show the men that it was not poisoned. i definitely felt that this was a subject that should not be broached further, but I immediately thought that women truly must have been treated like slaves to the men in Africa and wondered just how much this has changed in modern day. Anyway, it is delicious and is like a porridge or polenta.
We were seated at a special table with food already set out for us and then a chef came out to tell us a little bit about what was being served. She explained that African food was very simple and that spices were really what defined each dish. A beautiful tray of spices were presented as well and she encouraged us to try them. We were served a sausage, pepper and onion dish along with warm doughnuts and biscuits and butternut squash pap. We were, of course, given pog juice (which I still remember as fru-unch) and African French press coffee. We were then each given a water bottle with Sense of Africa printed on it. I asked Karen why the name was changed to pog juice and she told me that originally, it contained mango juice and now does not. Otherwise it is the same. We were also allowed to try anything from the regular buffet that we wanted, but I was completely happy with what was offered here. We had an opportunity to ask questions and had a total of a half hour to eat. Our guides took pictures of us and I felt like a movie star because we drew a great deal of attention! This breakfast was outstanding and a wonderful way to start the tour.
When we were ready to move on, we walked to the front of Jambo House where a safari truck and our animal specialist, Ryan, was waiting for us. Ryan was a zoologist and this tour was designed by him. He remained with us throughout the tour and was a wealth of knowledge. He explained that AKL and AK are two separate zoos and do not share or exchange animals. He said that they are accredited by the AZA (Association of Zoos and Aquariums) and have special requirements to keep up their membership, which is very strict on animal care. He also explained that they get a list of member zoos for breeding needs and will sometimes ship or receive animals for breeding purposes this way and that when one of their animals is sent out for breeding, an Animal Specialist always accompanies the animal.
Our first stop was to the backstage area at the Okapi barn. We first met Ashley, the barn keeper. Ashley explained to us that she is in charge of these beautiful anImals which involves observing them, feeding them, training them and identifying any medical needs they may have. We met two okapi today; Zelda and Olivia. We got to do a little target training with Zelda. We were given a long stick with a little red ball on the end and each of us got to hold it up in front of her to try and get her to touch it with her nose. We had to say “touch” to her and if she did indeed touch it with her nose, we got to give her a delicious piece of bok choy or lettuce. Ashley reinforced this with a clicker every time Zelda touched the ball. She also told us that having these tours is great for the animal keepers because wild animals normally don’t warm up to people and it takes a long time to gain their trust. By getting the okapi used to seeing different types of people, it makes it much easier for them when the veterinarians have to come in and collect blood and stool samples and give routine care.
Olivia, we actually got to pet on the neck, which was amazing!! Olivia is 4 years old and was born at AKL. The reason they let us pet her neck is because Olivia’s neck is where the vets need to draw blood from and it gets her used to being touched there. We were told to apply firm pressure because if we were shy about it, she would simply swat us off like a fly. We got to also feed her while doing this. After we all took turns petting and feeding Olivia, we sanitized our hands and reluctantly left this wonderful part of the tour. I honestly could have stayed there all day!! We said our goodbyes to Ashley and thanked her profusely for this amazing experience before hopping back in our safari truck and moving on to the giraffe barn.
Meet Zelda:
And Olivia:
Giraffes are my favorite animal ( in case you didn’t know ) and I was beyond excited about this next part of the tour!! Upon arrival, we were greeted by Karla, who was the barn keeper here. She explained to us that there were seven different species of giraffe and here they kept reticulated giraffe as opposed to Animal Kingdom, which housed Masai giraffe. She then led us into the barn, which was three stories tall!! There we met two beautiful creatures who were a mother and daughter. I was so excited, I forgot to write down their names but I think the mom was named Zen. We got to watch Karla feed the daughter and then we all took turns feeding the mom. This was the most awesome thing I did the entire trip!!! We learned that giraffe are indeed gentle giants and are very timid. They are only as smart as they need to be and they love sweet potatoes!! . They also eat greens but are picky about them and sure enough when I went to feed the giraffe, it loved the sweet potato but snubbed the lettuce!! Karla told us that they are fickle with this stuff; one day they will eat a bucket of lettuce and the next act like they hate it. They stick their long tongues out to grab food and can actually strip leaves from a branch this way as their tongues are very muscular. This barn I had to be dragged from!! I wanted to move right on in with these two!!!
When we got back in our vehicle, someone asked a very interesting question. They asked what happened when an animal died. Not to be morbid, but I found the answer fascinating. There is a crematorium on the grounds with a fairly large opening. All animals are given a necropsy, even if the keepers know the cause of death and Ryan told us that they learn so much this way. Also, as large as the opening is, it will not fit a giraffe or an elephant so it is necessary to dissect these larger mammals before cremating them.
We next arrived at the Ostrich area. Ostrich are silly birds and are not capable of learning much. Their brain really is the size of a pea and they basically eat, sleep and make baby ostriches. We got to feed them by placing a metal pan with a long handle on a notch in the opening to their crates and watching them peck at it. They are some crazy looking dudes up close and literally cannot keep their heads and necks still!!
Next we took a short ride over to the Red River hog barn where we met Maura. We learned from her that the Red River Hogs are the smartest animals on property by far. They are as trainable as dogs and are extremely quick learners. We got to do a couple of things here. First we got to see how the animals are being conditioned to tolerate ultrasounds. It was really cool!! Each of the hogs is kept in a large cage with a small door, like a dog door, leading to a metal crate. The crate is only a tad bit larger than the hog and has metal removable bars on both sides, like spikes. This is an ingenious design because you only need to lift the bars necessary to get to the part of the animal that you need to ultrasound. Then in the front of the crate are three small windows that are large enough to fit a snout through. The reason there are three windows is to properly position the hog as needed. Ryan explained that two people were necessary for this training as one needed at the front of the crate to teach the hog to stay still while feeding a treat to it and one needed to hold the ultrasound probe and read the screen.
The hog used to show us how this worked was named a Chloe and she was so smart and really quite adorable!! She walked into the crate and Maura sat in the front to position her properly while Ryan removed one of the metal bars to simulate an pregnancy ultrasound. Maura was able to use a clicker and the word”hold” while Ryan performed the ultrasound and it was fascinating to watch!!
Next we did a test to demonstrate the Red River Hog’s sharp sense of smell. Three scent bottles were passed around the group. One was lemon, one was cherry and one was pine. The scent that Maura was having the hogs pick out today was lemon. She would say, “Chloe. Lemon.” Sure enough Chloe would excitedly sniff all three scents and stop at lemon. I am pretty sure that Lilly would not be as discerning!!
Lastly, we got to make some food toys for the hogs. We were stationed at a table and on it were Kong like toys to fill with vegetables, pumpkin purée, cinnamon and corn. Then we were instructed to hide them around the play yard and to really be creative with where we put them. I filled a toy tire with food and stuck it in a bush. When everyone was done, the hogs were let out and, again, it was easy to see how smart and clever they were in finding the food!! They looked under things, in things and over things. They were also able to pull apart toys that had food inside of them with ease. It was amazing to watch!!
Sadly, this was just about the end of the tour. We were driven back to AKL and had to say our goodbyes to Ryan, who was an outstanding tour guide. We walked to the overlook area on Arusha Savanna and went inside Jambo House where we were given a Sense of Africa pin and our photo pass card to download our pictures from the adventure. Before parting ways with our wonderful hostesses, we were shown how where we were standing looked just like a lion’s head. Of all the times I have stayed here and passed through this way, I had never noticed that before!!
When we were given our pins, we were also asked what the design for the tour implied:
The top part represents the giraffe, the bottom the okapi and our fingerprint is in the middle! I thought this was really cool and serves as a reminder of our impact on animals.
You guys, this was the hands down best tour I have ever taken at WDW or, come to think of it, pretty much anywhere!!!
Coming up: A little glitch and Mix it, Make it, Celebrate it and AK!!
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What a great time you had on the Senses of Africa tour and sounds like a real winner. Looks like a great breakfast with a great variety of choices. The tour itself looks amazing as you learned so much and great interaction with the red hogs, okapi, ostriches and of course the giraffes! Seems like you had a great guide in Ryan and cool that this is the best tour ever for you.
Is this tour just available if you're staying at the AKL or is it available for anyone? Looks great and very interested in doing this one day.
__________________
October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.
What a great time you had on the Senses of Africa tour and sounds like a real winner. Looks like a great breakfast with a great variety of choices. The tour itself looks amazing as you learned so much and great interaction with the red hogs, okapi, ostriches and of course the giraffes! Seems like you had a great guide in Ryan and cool that this is the best tour ever for you.
Is this tour just available if you're staying at the AKL or is it available for anyone? Looks great and very interested in doing this one day.
Dave, I honestly cannot say enough about this tour!!!! It is available to everyone and, as far as I am concerned, everyone should take it!! Ryan actually designed this tour and he is an incredible guide!!!!!
Excellent, excellent tour! Love how you got so close and even touched the animals, especially the giraffes. Great too that photos were taken with each of the animals.
Ok, so first, You and Cheryl are making me blush with saying such nice things. I loved meeting both of you - and hope I have many more chances to hang with both of you!
OK, this tour? Wow! What an incredible experience!
But the hogs? They may be smart, and certainly smarter than most dogs. But I don’t think I’d want one curled up on my lap!
Dave, I honestly cannot say enough about this tour!!!! It is available to everyone and, as far as I am concerned, everyone should take it!! Ryan actually designed this tour and he is an incredible guide!!!!!
Sounds amazing and will have to put this on my must do at WDW list and at the top of it!
__________________
October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
What an amazing tour that was! I've looked at it, but much as I love the sound of it and now your write-up, I can't justify the cost for the two of us. I think if it was just one of us, it would be a different matter, but we'd both love to do this. Oh well, at least I can dream reading your trip report.
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Excellent, excellent tour! Love how you got so close and even touched the animals, especially the giraffes. Great too that photos were taken with each of the animals.
It was amazing, Cam!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pris
That sounds like an awesome tour! I will have to look into that one when I next make it to WDW.
It was truly the best tour I have ever taken anywhere!!!!love:
Ok, so first, You and Cheryl are making me blush with saying such nice things. I loved meeting both of you - and hope I have many more chances to hang with both of you!
OK, this tour? Wow! What an incredible experience!
But the hogs? They may be smart, and certainly smarter than most dogs. But I don’t think I’d want one curled up on my lap!
So, you don’t touch the hogs. You just feed them and respect how smart they are.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
What an amazing tour that was! I've looked at it, but much as I love the sound of it and now your write-up, I can't justify the cost for the two of us. I think if it was just one of us, it would be a different matter, but we'd both love to do this. Oh well, at least I can dream reading your trip report.
Honestly, it was just me and I also got a 15 % Disney Visa discount on the price. Cheryl, I swear this tour was worth every penny!!
A little glitch and Mix it, Make it, Celebrate it!
Day 5. November 7th. Part 2.
So I got a text that my room was ready at the end of my tour. It was around 10:45 AM, so I thought I would check out the room and go unpack. I went to the front desk to see where to get my bags and the lovely CM there had me scan my MB. Well, guess what?!
IT DIDNT WORK!!!!
I had already used it at MK and Epcot with no problems and the lady said that part of it was fine, but it wouldn’t connect to my room. She thought it would be an easy fix as I told her I had to be at Epcot at 12:15 PM.
Forty minutes later and a manager thrown in, we still could not get it to work. I told them I really had to go as I was planning on getting the bus to Epcot and the CM told me they would get me a shuttle instead because I wouldn’t make it by bus. It was fine to fix the issue when I came back, but now I was just a tad worried it wouldn’t work in the Park. Anyway!
The manager gave me a voucher and a Mears shuttle came right away. I was at Epcot by 11:50 and made the seminar with 15 minutes to spare!! I just love the Festival Center!! It is really nicely laid out and I was easily able to find the line for my seminar.
They let us in at 12:05 and I wound up sitting next to a really cute couple from Michigan who were celebrating their 10th anniversary and felt slightly guilty about not bringing their kids but said they were having a great time!!
Our places were set with all of the ingredients we would need for the session. We were making two cocktails. The first drink was called a Reyna Southside. The drink master’s name was Trevor Schneider and he was excellent and knowledgeable about the ingredients required and also gave us some alternative ingredients we could use to make several different cocktails with the base of this drink. I felt like I was on the Food Network because everything we needed was premeasured and put in neat little cups.
We mixed the ingredients as instructed and garnished our drink with mint leaves and it was very tasty!! It tasted sort of like a Tom Collins.
Then we were given a lovely snack of a salmon roll up and a chicken croquette. Both were delicious!!
Next, our other host, Jaime Salas, showed us how to make a very refreshing margarita. This being my favorite cocktail, I was impressed!!
This was a delightful seminar and everyone left with a trivet and the recipes to make these two delicious drinks!! Jaime and Trevor were engaging and entertaining and you could tell they were passionate about what they did. I would do this again if given the opportunity!!
Just as I was leaving Epcot, Muffin texted me to tell me he was packing up and on his way. We agreed to meet in the lobby at AKL. I didn’t tell him about my MB troubles because, well, I just didn’t have time to go into it!
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Everything you tried is so delicious. 
i definitely felt that this was a subject that should not be broached further, but I immediately thought that women truly must have been treated like slaves to the men in Africa and wondered just how much this has changed in modern day. Anyway, it is delicious and is like a porridge or polenta.
This breakfast was outstanding and a wonderful way to start the tour.
We said our goodbyes to Ashley and thanked her profusely for this amazing experience before hopping back in our safari truck and moving on to the giraffe barn.
Karla told us that they are fickle with this stuff; one day they will eat a bucket of lettuce and the next act like they hate it. They stick their long tongues out to grab food and can actually strip leaves from a branch this way as their tongues are very muscular. This barn I had to be dragged from!! I wanted to move right on in with these two!!! 
We were driven back to AKL and had to say our goodbyes to Ryan, who was an outstanding tour guide. We walked to the overlook area on Arusha Savanna and went inside Jambo House where we were given a Sense of Africa pin and our photo pass card to download our pictures from the adventure. Before parting ways with our wonderful hostesses, we were shown how where we were standing looked just like a lion’s head. Of all the times I have stayed here and passed through this way, I had never noticed that before!! 
Looks like a great breakfast with a great variety of choices. The tour itself looks amazing as you learned so much and great interaction with the red hogs, okapi, ostriches and of course the giraffes! 
You and Cheryl are making me blush with saying such nice things. I loved meeting both of you - and hope I have many more chances to hang with both of you!
PassPorter Guide Author
She thought it would be an easy fix as I told her I had to be at Epcot at 12:15 PM.
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