Mayhem Marauders Meet-up Part Deux!

[Amy]

Nice shots Mousekedude. It would have been much more fun to have gone on the trek with other people. I wonder if people on my tour thought I was suspicious since I was all alone?!?!
The guy that is behind you in the photo where you are being harnessed up is the guide I had that was from close to my home back in Michigan. Also the one that I thought looked a bit like Harold Ramis.
Was it raining when you had your tour?

[Mousekedude]

Thanks!
It wasn't just the "alone" part that was suspicious, it was the "whole picture." She had an enormous, gorgeous wedding ring on, so obviously she was married... so why wasn't he with her...? That, plus the fact that she was kinda keeping to herself, not really paying attention, etc. is what caught B-dude's attention... and then the rest of ours.

Yeah, the rain was still hit-and-miss the whole time. That's why some pictures look bright and some dim, and why you see M-oholic in a poncho a couple times, and why you see me shielding my camera in the one shot with the harnesses. We got a little wet, but it was great because it added to the adventure.

[Soarin08]

That was a fun day! Well after seeing your pics I might go ahead and book the trek for later on this year, it has been officially added to our CM 50% off list for tours.

[MmeLeota]

Nice pics Mousekedude! I knew you guys were going to the DVC presentation, but I didn't know you guys bought into it. Congrats!
I like how Soarin and Mouseoholic were both wearing yellow...
We haven't seen Finding Nemo either...we didn't get to AK this past trip, but it is definitely on the list of things to do at AK. Every time someone posts pics, it looks so cool.
The trek looked like so much fun!
Amy - I remembered you mentioning the guy who looked like Harold Ramis...and when I saw that picture, I thought of your report.

[Amy]

Yeah, the rain was still hit-and-miss the whole time. That's why some pictures look bright and some dim, and why you see M-oholic in a poncho a couple times, and why you see me shielding my camera in the one shot with the harnesses. We got a little wet, but it was great because it added to the adventure.

I wondered as I had seen M-oholic's poncho a few times and then you were sort of posing a little weird in that one photo and when I looked a bit closer it sort of looked like you were keeping camera equipment dry.

That was a fun day! Well after seeing your pics I might go ahead and book the trek for later on this year, it has been officially added to our CM 50% off list for tours.

Oh yes, if you can go for 50% off, go for it!

We haven't seen Finding Nemo either...we didn't get to AK this past trip, but it is definitely on the list of things to do at AK. Every time someone posts pics, it looks so cool.
The trek looked like so much fun!
Amy - I remembered you mentioning the guy who looked like Harold Ramis...and when I saw that picture, I thought of your report.

Yup, Nemo should definitely be on your next visit! Guess I should get on with my tax prep so I can get back to the important stuff ~ like finishing my trip report

[Soarin08]

Hmm MmeLeota... now that you mention it, I never even noticed that M-holic and I wear both wearing yellow! How cool we coordinated!

[Mousekedude]

The Wild Africa Trek, Part 2: the tour of the savannah!


As you’ll recall, we left off with our group having survived the Jungle Adventure, and now it was time to move on to the second part of the tour. The tour guides loaded us all into a private safari truck and took us around the savannah for up-close and personal views of the animals:





Although part of the tour was on the same road used by the Kilamanjaro Safari tour, the advantage to our tour trucks is that we were able to go “off the beaten path” a large part of the time, and we got to stop and linger in various places. At this point the weather started clearing up a little, and we had a mix of sunshine and brief rain showers. Of course, the sides of the truck being open, we got a little wet from water dripping down the sides of the roof. B-babe smiles like the good sport she is while B-dude dries her seat:




Naturally we saw all the same animals as the regular Kilamanjaro Safari tour, but the advantage here, as I said, was that we got to stop and spend time with them. This gave us a chance to get some really good pictures of the animals… and to pose for the camera ourselves with animals in the background:









Now came a real treat: they took us to this awesome private pavilion on a little hill overlooking the savannah:





We were able to freshen up in the private restrooms (we’ve been on the tour about 2 ½ hours already so far), and then sit down to an amazing gourmet box lunch:





Everything you see there was delicious, including the flower (it was an edible orchid that tasted a little like cucumbers)! Of course, B-babe and Mouseoholic decided to do the “girly” thing and wear their flowers instead of eating them:




By the way, even the box lunch containers were totally awesome! Here’s the brand if you’d like to look them up:




After lunch, we wandered down to the end of a long walkway to an observation deck (seen in the previous pictures of the pavilion), where we had a gorgeous view of the savannah and the lions ( I was kicking myself that I hadn’t brought the more powerful zoom lens):




Then we got back in the truck and continued on. We stopped right by the lion enclosure for a chance at a couple more pics:





Have I mentioned how upset I was that I didn’t have my better zoom lens?
But that’s okay, because the tour guides had theirs, and were nice enough to provide me with these great shots:





Well, that about does it for the Wild Africa Trek! We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and highly recommend this special tour for everyone!
Next post coming eventually…

[Amy]

Cool! It seems like your tour was a little less rushed than ours. Or maybe that is just the way you are describing it? It looks like different things in the lunch box too. I wonder if that is because your tour was later in the day and mine was a morning tour? Or perhaps they are still tweaking the menu?
Looking forward to more photos later

[Mousekedude]

Cool! It seems like your tour was a little less rushed than ours. Or maybe that is just the way you are describing it? It looks like different things in the lunch box too. I wonder if that is because your tour was later in the day and mine was a morning tour? Or perhaps they are still tweaking the menu?
Looking forward to more photos later

Hmmmm.... I wish I knew. I would have thought they would all be the same. Any C.M.'s out there who can shed some light on this?

[MmeLeota]

Nice pictures! I'm glad you guys had a fabulous time! Someday we would like to take this tour.
(someone needs to wake up the guy wearing the maroon shirt on the bus)

Were some of those the pics from the photopass that came with the tour?

[Mousekedude]

Were some of those the pics from the photopass that came with the tour?

Yeah, they were. It was great that the C.M.'s were taking pictures the whole time as well, because we were able to get a CD of the whole thing and use some of them along with our own. This came in handy during the times when we wanted to all pose together, or when we were in the middle of something that prevented me from taking my own pics, etc. I believe I did mention this fact when I posted those last couple pics of the big cats, so I hope no one thinks I was taking credit for shots I didn't take.

[MmeLeota]

Were some of those the pics from the photopass that came with the tour?

Yeah, they were. It was great that the C.M.'s were taking pictures the whole time as well, because we were able to get a CD of the whole thing and use some of them along with our own. This came in handy during the times when we wanted to all pose together, or when we were in the middle of something that prevented me from taking my own pics, etc. I believe I did mention this fact when I posted those last couple pics of the big cats, so I hope no one thinks I was taking credit for shots I didn't take.

No, no...I wasn't thinking that at all and I hope no one else did either... I was just curious is all...As I went back, I saw that you did mention about the CM and the zoom.

[Amy]

Nice pictures! I'm glad you guys had a fabulous time! Someday we would like to take this tour.
(someone needs to wake up the guy wearing the maroon shirt on the bus)

Were some of those the pics from the photopass that came with the tour?

I thought that guy looked a little bored or sleepy too!

[Mousekedude]

Oh, by the way... that guy in the red shirt...? He wasn't bored or sleepy. In that shot he just happened to be checking out his water canteen. He was actually a very talkative person... too talkative, if you catch my drift....

[wewantsdaredhead]

Well if anyone is interested...I have finally completed the bulk of my TR!
It's only been more than two months lol
I am finalizing picture selections and such...I hope to have the beginning of it up this weekend.
It's so long that I will do it in chunks.
I miss all you guys! Work has me blocked from here still so I have to access from my iPhone and that really sucks. It's so small.