Busch Gardens

After an unbelievable buffet breakfast at our hotel, we ventured out to our first destination, Busch Gardens. This park is "Busch Gardens Africa", so there were plenty of African animals there, including a beautiful Gorilla and her baby. One of the more exciting parts of our day was a ride on the back of a truck onto the "Serengeti Safari". We saw some giraffes up close and personal! This one's name is "Binti" and she just loved the lettuce we brought for her to eat.

We saw Elk, Rhinos, Zebras, Ostriches and a lovely two-week old baby rhino who ran across the plain with the gawkiness of a toddler while his weary mom chased after him.

Inside the park were some gorgeous white Bengal Tigers, as well as regular tigers and lions.

We were told this rhino is the "stud" of the pack......isn't he handsome?

There were all kinds of shows and attractions in the park as well. This big creature and I had matching outfits.

This crazy ride is called SheikRa. I didn't go on it (I'm not crazy) but a few who did came back white-faced. They start you going over the first plunge but stop and leave you hanging there for about 5 seconds.

I did go on the Congo River Rapids ride. I knew I'd get wet, and when the ride was almost finished I was just somewhat wet.....until the final soaking that was so strong it spun the raft around - the better to soak everyone!

In addition to our free entry to the park, we were given food vouchers for our lunch, and $20 worth of "Busch dollars" to spend anyway we wanted in the park.

We finished off the day with a presentation of all the Seaworld Parks, along with a delicious buffet supper, topped off with chocolate cake for dessert.

We did go back to the hotel and swim in the gorgeous pool.......something we would not have the strength for in the ensuing nights!