Disney’s Animal Kingdom’s Wild Africa Trek is one of the must-do items for a Disney trip!

I have done the Kilimanjaro Safari at Disney’s Animal Kingdom multiple times each time I’ve visited the park.  Last month, I got to experience a safari of a very, very different nature.  I love the safari, and I love seeing all of the animals.  This visit, I got to enjoy the safari, but from a more…well, shall we say “bird’s eye” view?  You see, we went around, behind and ABOVE the Kilimanjaro Safari, in addition to going through it.  I got to go on the Wild Africa Trek – a 3 hour excursion that few have experienced and everyone should be able to try at least once.  It’s amazing.  I mean, we got close enough to hippos to see little tiny hairs that, well, are in areas that maybe I won’t mention specifically.  But we saw them from about 10 feet away.  From above!  And more- so much more!

You will also learn when you are near hippos and hear a lot of swishing to move away- hippos mark their territory with their feces and they use their tails to spread it around.  Obviously when you are swishing a tail quickly with “matter” like that, it can spray in all directions…which is why you learn this little fact FIRST when you come near the hippos.  I cannot get over how LARGE their mouths are!!  (This is a female, she was wanting some more watermelon!)

You’ll walk across rope bridges on this trek…something THIS mama was super, super nervous about.  The fancy schmancy vests you see us sporting above?  Those have clips attached, that hook us up to cables above…no risk of anything happening.  You get the feel and experience of walking on a rope bridge without the danger.  I won’t lie, I shook like a leaf.  My heart pounded and I was very very nervous but I did it.  And such amazing sights to see! Plus, if I’m going to be within 10 feet of more than a dozen enormous alligators, I think I’d rather be ABOVE them than at their level, you know?

After the bridges, you can also get even closer to the gators (never at risk of falling near them) and let me tell you, when you think a gator looks large from above, they look even larger from a 10 foot distance.  They are awesome creatures, though.  It’s pretty neat to see them lounging and then “spar” with other gators.

This trek is so much fun- most of the route parallels the Safari ride, but you have more time to stop and get photos, and are able to stop and observe the animals if you want.  You can see that we all brought our cameras with us (or most of us) but you honestly don’t “need” to, because included with the price of the trek is a cd of images shot by a photographer who accompanies you on the trek.  So you can really just enjoy the experience and not worry about capturing the memories on film (or memory card!), Disney takes care of it for you.  Given that we are all bloggers, we brought our cameras along anyway (you cannot bring a phone or a camera that does not have a wrist or neck strap on this adventure, so plan accordingly).

We were the last safari of the day, and our experience happened to coincide with the early evening hours, when the animals go “in” for the night, and when the big cats wake up.  So we got to see some beautiful sights that not many get to see…from a raised pavilion.

Who else can say they dined about 100 yards from a lion?  Or elephants who were heading in for supper?  The food prepared for guests of the Trek is only made for those on the Trek- its made by a restaurant in Animal Kingdom, but the foods aren’t served at the restaurant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Along with your lunch you will get a delightfully refreshing punch that complements the food beautifully.  They do offer children’s meals as well, with more kid-friendly foods.  (The chicken curry is to.die.for delicious.  Tucked into the mini pitas and I was in heaven!)

 

We got to see a lot of the animals eating on our trek, which was a neat experience for me.  We always do the safari ride at least twice when we’re at Animal Kingdom, but we’ve never really seen the animals eating – so this was a treat for me.  It’s an awesome experience.

The Wild Africa Trek is a one-of-a-kind adventure that is done as only Disney can do- there is thrill and excitement, with no danger…beautiful scenery, hilariously funny and engaging guides, who will bend over backwards to make sure that you are having an amazing time, working hard to make sure they get every shot you may wish you had once you return home…with a smile on their faces.

Thanks to Disney for inviting all of us on the #DisneyGlobalEvent trip to come and experience the Wild Africa Trek.  It was a truly amazing experience and I hope I can do it again with my family one day.