6th September 2018
In 2016, last time I visited the Orange County, we all went to Tampa to go to the wild, furious, and epic Busch Gardens safari theme park. I went on rides like Falcons Fury, Montu, Cheetah Hunt (my favourite there) and much more. We saw lots of animals like the white tiger, hippopotamus, giraffe & loads more. Our day ended in a disappointing manner though, as we positioned ourselves in the Congo river rapids only to be told “All rides are stopping due to severe weather conditions” I was frustrated. We never got to ride Cobras Curse, Sheikra, the river rapids. We didn’t get to see the kangaroos, sloth or gorillas. This was our only visit to Busch Gardens planned on the trip, and it was ruined by a storm.
This is the reason why 2 voyages out to Tampa have been planned on this holiday.We got up and took the hour car journey out to Tampa. I was excited. I got to ride the rollercoasters I missed out on. We made it to the safari like theme park and had to park in the Cheetah area of quiet parking. This was probably quiet due to American kids returning to schools allowing wait times to be considerably low.
As soon as security was complete, (why do they have to search the bags, the manual way?) We entered the wilderness of the gardens. We were going to head straight for Cobras Curse but got a bit sidetracked. We went past the American alligators & then saw the gorilla sanctuary was open. So we decided to see them. The chimps were sitting staring at us through the window, firstly, then we saw the gorillas. Their big brute size made them a threat to us if the glass wasn’t there. Even though they had power, they were quite peaceful. They just lay in the grass and ate. The baby ones were only mucking around and being a nuisance for their mother. They were incredible. The dad was on the other side, using his mighty right arm as a pillow. He reminded me of King Kong.
Due to visiting the apes, we travelled further away from Cobras Curse. So we just went and visited a few more animals. We saw a bald eagle, raven, Nile crocodile, snakes, frogs, flamingos, and one of my favourite animals – the sloth. The 2-toed creature was being fed and it was like slow-motion was put on my video. The arms took about 10 seconds to reach out and take the juicy bits of fruit. I knew they were lazy, but I wasn’t expecting that.
After seeing these animals, we witnessed the calm, elegant, elephants eating away. Their long trunks waving around in the hot air, ripping grass out was just so natural and perfect. My Mum then decided, to walk into the healthcare facility. I followed and saw an armadillo scamper past my feet. The armadillo I saw the day before; Boomer, this was his grandad; Olli. He was super cute and even though he was at a good ol’ age of 9 (which means he is very elderly in Armadillo years) he moved really fast.
After seeing the animals, Lauren was able to persuade me & my Dad, to ride the really high Falcon’s Fury. This was a drop ride that tilts you until you face the ground below, then you come soaring down 351 feet like a falcon. I can’t believe I done it again, as I was freaking out last time. We celebrated with a Starbucks.
After this, we then saw signs of rain – the skyrider was closed due to severe weather conditions. This made us panic. It was like last time was happening all over again. We quickly ran over to the Congo river rapids, hoping that we don’t just sit down and it stops again. Luckily, it went down, getting us all soaked (mainly my Mum).
This rain stopped all our plans again, and we only got on cheetah hunt near the end of the day. At least, I saw the hairy, and wonderful orangutans taking shelter, the tiger pacing in the severe weather and giraffes eating from the trees before the park closed. Another time at Busch Gardens ending abruptly due to severe weather conditions that never occurred ‘severely’ until we left the park. At least, we are visiting again on this holiday.
To end our day, we went to KFC (they do wedges instead of fries?!). Then I went for a dip in the hotel pool, which was very fun.
I hope you enjoyed this blog, next time, we are swimming at SeaWorld’s water park: Aquatica, then I will be beating my family in a game of mini golf. See you all soon. Bye!
Lost in Travel 