Life Begins at 50 The Dream Tour With Lots of pictures

[wicket2005]

Read the next report too, lovely. We sat near those gorillas too on our visit. Had a lovely meal there too and agree Everest is the best ride at Disney. Looking forward to hearing all about Hard Rock, we are staying there next year. Stayed at Royal Pacific this year and that was unbelieveable.

 

[kevg1889]

Day 7 Universal Studio's, Hard Rock Hotel & Islands of Adventure
Tuesday 31st July 2007


We bought a couple of disposable cameras on our way to the car, and drove straight to the Hard Rock Hotel, arriving at around 8-20am. I was getting really good at this driving thing now, & even used the cruise control as we travelled up the I4. To our surprise, our room was ready for us, so we offloaded our bags, and looked at all the Beatles pictures on the walls. Apologies if the pictures over the next couple of days are not as good or as plentiful, due to using disposable cameras, but I suppose anything is better than nothing at all!

We then made our way on the short but picturesque boat ride to Universal Studios.

We had to pick up our e-tickets for the meal deal that I had booked, and have the customary photo taken with woody woodpecker superimposed (they have stopped doing the ones with Tinkerbell at MK for some reason)

we then headed straight to the front of the line for Shrek 4D. This was very good, although the story line is a bit hiddledy piddledy, and I found the pre-ride entertainment a bit long & boring. Next we did Terminator & ET, before watching the horror make up show. This was across the road from Mels Drive In, so we made first use of our meal deal & sipper cups, which were to prove excellent value for money.

Well & truly filled up, we headed for our first experience of Mummy, which is now second only to Spiderman in my favourite Universal rides. We rode it again after we had been to Twister, and then did Earthquake. Next came one of my old favourites, Jaws, which is still a very good ride.

I thrashed Ben on Men in Black, having to listen to a thousand excuses about his gun not working etc. We headed off to Jimmy Neutron, which was another new one to us, and very enjoyable. By this time, the storm clouds had moved in & as we stood buying our ponchos, the loudest clap of thunder I have ever heard shook the building. We decided to walk back to HRH for a rest & a swim in the superb pool, & the rain really came down, leaving deep puddles for us to fall into as we made our way, but unfortunately when we got back, the pool was closed due to the lightening.

Being a brave & confident driver now, we decided to head to a local shopping mall, to see if we could pick up a cheap replacement video camera. Unfortunately, although there were bargains to be had, there were issues with the compatibility, with the British PAL system being different to that used in the States. By the time we got back to HRH, the pool had re-opened & we joined in with the disco taking place in the water which was great fun. The slide into the pool was also excellent & Ben really enjoyed it, and the underwater music was also a good experience.

A quick change, and we made our way back to US, where we had pizzas & sweets as part of our meal deal. Ben was really keen to have a turn on Spiderman, so we walked over to Islands of Adventure, and cut straight to the front of a very long line. It was every bit as good as we remembered it, with Ben keeping his 3D glasses on this time, unlike our last visit, when it really scared him!!

Even with his new found confidence, Ben was still a bit wary of riding the Hulk, but he decided to give it a go & loved every second of it. Dr Doom was disappointing, a good adrenalin rush, but much too short. We did Spiderman again before heading to Duelling Dragons, which again Ben really enjoyed. We headed straight back to US after this, just time for a bit more pizza & cakes & a re-fill of the sipper cup before the night show began.

This was OK, but doesn't live up to the standard of the Disney night shows somehow. It had been a really hectic day, and it was nice at this stage to be able to go and have a drink & take in the atmosphere of Citywalk, without having to worry about driving home. We sat outside Pat O'Briens watching a very good group play, while drinking a couple of their famous hurricanes. These went straight to my head, & I actually felt quite tipsy, so we got on the boat back to our room. It was nice to have a beautifully presented bottle of wine & nuts waiting for us, courtesy of the Loews club.

We were all totally exhausted, so we went straight to bed.

 

[kevg1889]

Day 8 Islands Of Adventure, Universal Studios, Premium Outlet & TGI Fridays Wednesday 1st August 2007

We got up at around 8-30am after a good, comfortable nights sleep, & threw our things back into our case, so that we could check out & leave our bags with the porters, before taking advantage of our second day with FOL privileges.

We walked down to Islands of adventure, and made straight for Spiderman again. This was Ben's day, so he chose the Hulk next, before yet another turn on Spidey.

Now it was hot, and we wanted to get really wet, so we set off to do Blutos Bilge Rat Barges. This was my grandsons favourite ride from our previous visits, and we were not disappointed this time. We were totally soaked, so headed for Duddly Do-rite Falls to see if we could get any wetter! Yep, we managed it, and were having to wring our clothes out as we made for the Jurrasic river adventure. We stood in the splash zone outside this ride before we went on it, and any dry inch on our bodies were now well & truly soaked. We had another turn on Duddly Do-rite & Bluto, before changing in to dry clothes.

One more turn on Spiderman & the Hulk, before making our way back to US, for lunch at Mels.

We did Men in Black again, and I let Ben win this time?? before re-visiting the Mummy. Lisa wanted to do Shrek again, so we did this before sitting down to enjoy the best banana split I have ever had. This picture does not do it justice, as it had three different flavours of ice cream on top of the banana, then fresh cream, nuts & different sauces on top, absolutely stunning & less tha a million calories!!

We sat at a nice quiet table outside the ice cream parlour, before Scooby doo pulled up right beside us, & we were suddenly besieged by kids waiting for a photo with the canine legend. Ben joined the line for a picture, just to please me! At this stage we saw the storm clouds coming across, and we had had enough of all the rides, so we walked back to HRH to get in the car & drive home. The night in the hotel had been a huge success, with the front of line privilege being a real bonus, and we had managed to do everything we wanted to do several times, while usually we would have been stood in line for hours at a time. We had a picture taken in front of the impressive guitar staue on the fountain in front of the hotel, before waving goodbye & heading for our car.

It was raining quite bad on the way home, so we decided to call in at the Premium Outlets, just off the I4. Ben wanted to get a pair of trainers from the Nike shop, while Lisa spent a fortune in the Cook shop. After a good look round, we went back to AKL to get ready for dinner. The good news when we got back was that the video camera had started working again, but the still camera was still not working, so we called at a camera shop on the 192 that we have used before, & bought a new, but cheaper digital camera, to see us through the rest of our vacation. The disposable ones were OK, but you had to remember to wind them on, and couldn't see whether the shot was what you wanted.

Our planned destination for dinner was an old favourite on the 192 called Jt's, where they used to do great rib eye steak & the hottest wings I've ever eaten. Unfortunately, when we got there, the place was all boarded up, so we were all gutted. Never mind we said, we'll go to Damons, further back on the 192, heading towards the Walmart store that we were visiting later. We have a Damons in Sheffield, which we love & visit regularly, and we had been to the one on the 192 on a previous visit. We were astonished when this too was no longer there! So we ended up in TGI Fridays, and we really enjoyed our meal. I had fajitas and Ben had his usual steak & Lisa had plenty of cocktails! They were so good that she bought a couple of the glasses. We finished the night off in Walmart, where Ben wanted to look for some huge "gobstoppers" to take back for his mates. He couldn't find what he wanted, but we picked up a few other things before heading back home for a well earned sleep.

 

[wicket2005]

Loved your reports and especially hearing about the Hard Rock. We landed at teatime on the 1st and just afterwards the airport was shut down, took quite a while for it to opened and for our luggage to appear. My poor youngest son had been looking forward to hot Florida weather after our terrible summer but was greeted by worse rain than we had at home.

 

[KayleeUK]

Brilliant reports Keep them coming!

 

[T16GEM]

What a great trip report! I must say that I am loving the bigger font too! Not having to strain my eyes to read! I must be getting old!

I don't know about bringing tears to your eyes but your descriptions of everything and enthusiasm for everything is bringing tears to my eyes!

Keep em comin!

 

[kevg1889]

Day 9 Blizzard Beach, Epcot, Boma & Downtown Disney
Thursday 2nd August 2007

This had originally been planned as a rest day, but as we got back quite early from Universal yesterday, we decided to get up & go for EMH at Blizzard Beach, where we could relax in the lazy river. As we travelled over there, the black clouds were gathering above us, and we had doubts whether the park would even open. It did open though, and after setting up base, Ben & I got on the chairlift up to Summit Plummet.

We had done this before on our previous visit, and it was every bit as good this time. The views from the top of the slide are fantastic, even on a dull day, and you can pick out all the landmarks from the Disney parks, as well as being able to see AKL. We met Lisa at the bottom & caught the chairlift straight back up to go on the family raft ride, which was really good fun. As we went round the lazy river Ben & I jumped out to ride all the brilliant slides, while Lisa went back to base to read & relax. By this time it was drizzling with rain, which didn't bother us as we were wet anyway, and it seemed to have put the crowds off, as we were able to get on all the slides without much of a wait. At least the thunder & lightening kept off, so the water park stayed open. After one last circuit of the lazy river with Lisa, we decided to make our way to Epcot, so we grabbed a bag of doughnuts & set off to see if we could get on Test Track.

When we got to Epcot, Test Track was closed due to the weather, so we seemed destined not to get on it this year. We fast passed Mission Mars, as Lisa hadn't done it yet, and went for lunch in the Umbrella, while it was time for our fastpass entry to the ride. This is a really good ride & you certainly get the full feeling of take off, as your face contorts into different shapes. The rain was slowing down, so we drove back to AKL & relaxed in the Spa and pool for a couple of hours. The pool area is beautiful from every angle as these pictures show, with the first one of the spa being taken from our balcony. The water in both spa pools was very, very hot.

Ben and I continued to enjoy throwing the American football around, and we attempted to set a new world record for heading a football to each other, but retired with our record at 5.

We re-connected to the internet for Ben, as we had booked a return visit to Boma for an early dinner. Our mousekeeper had left us one of the lovely towel animals that we had read so much about on the boards.

We spent a little more time exploring our surroundings, as we just never got fed up of looking at it all, and the views on the savannahs were never the same twice.

Ben wanted to eat in Mara, and spend time in the arcade & on the net, so Lisa & I enjoyed an intimate meal for two in Boma, with enjoyed being the operative word. It was every bit as good, with the Mulligatawny soup being absolutely stunning.

After dinner we set off for Downtown Disney. Ben was looking forward to Disney Quest, but we dropped a real goolie, as we thought that the Disney bus stopped first at Market Place, then Pleasure Island & then ay West Side. WRONG!! It only stopped at the first two, so we were sat on a bus that headed off to Typhoon Lagoon, and then did a full tour of Old Key West Resort, picking up at several points along the way, before finally arriving back at DD an hour later! At least our dinner had had time to settle!!

When we got into Disney Quest, the lines were massive & we waited well over an hour for the Pirates Adventure, with only slightly shorter waits for the River Rapids & Aladdin. We just had time for the racing cars, before heading out to look around. There is a tremendous atmosphere about the place as you walk through Pleasure Island. Many of the shops in Market Place were starting to close, but we had a good look around the wonderful Disney Store before trudging back to the bus stop. At least the bus was heading straight back to AKL, so we wouldn't end up on a mystery tour this time!! Ben was asleep before we even pulled out of DD, and we were all glad to get in bed at the end of another hectic day. We decided that we would have a lay in in the morning, and give the planned extra magic hour at MGM a miss.

 

[saratogagirl]

I am loving your trippie, it doesn't take much to get me excited about WDW and your enthusiasm is contagious.

 

[kevg1889]

Day 10 Magic Kingdom, 50's Prime Time, MGM- Part One
Friday 3rd August 2007


I got up at around 8am (A real lay in for me!) I went straight down to the pool & lounged in the sun, with several re-fills of my coffee mug. Lisa & Ben surfaced at around 10-30am and they too enjoyed just lazing around sunbathing & throwing the ball around in the pool. It was a very hot day, and by around 1pm we had had enough sun, so Lisa wanted to go off to MK to watch the afternoon parade. This turned out to be quite a good move, as on our arrival at MK, while walking up Main Street, a mystery man came up to us and gave us each a Dream Fast Pass, allowing us straight on to all the major rides once each.

We do not know if he was a cast member, or just a guest, as he quickly disappeared. It felt really special to be given these, but we knew we would have to really move if we were to get all the rides in, as we had an ADR in MGM at 6-30pm. We had several photo's taken, proudly showing off our dream passes, and I really enjoyed adding the "Where dreams come true" border, as all our dreams were certainly coming true.

Just time for a quick bite to eat in the Starlight before bypassing the 120 minute wait for Space Mountain.

Straight into position for the parade next, which we enjoyed (It will never have quite the same impact as that first time we saw it back in '91, but still special) Next came Mickeys Philarmagic, which has now become my favourite of all the MK attractions. Winnie the Pooh came next (only so we could tell the grandchildren we'd been on it!!) then battle re-commenced on Buzz Lightyear. Ben was devastated when I beat him yet again with the very last shot, he seems to think I'm just lucky!! We enjoyed taking in the gardens on our way round, and have some lovely pictures, far too many to get them all on this report.

The wait for Splash Mountain was showing as 160 minutes, but we did it in around 20 minutes. Just time for Jungle Cruise before flying off to MGM. Our quick visit to MK certainly hadn't turned out the way we expected it to.

TO BE CONTINUED BELOW

 

[kevg1889]

Day 10 Part Two = MGM & 50's Prime Time

Getting to MGM from MK is a bit of a pain really, and takes longer than we had planned! We had to get the boat back across the lake before joining a long line for the bus. We just managed to scrape onto the bus, standing all the way, but we were glad to be on it, as our ADR time at 50's Prime Time was fast approaching, and we still had to go through all security checks and get into the park. We were only a few minutes late though, and this was another very good dining experience.

Ben loved every minute of it. He had to clear up the plates on the table after leaving some vegetables, and giggled as our waitress (cousin) abused other customers. She called us "Lush's" as we tried all the cocktails on the menu, and we really enjoyed the food.

Lisa had goats cheese for starters while I had beer battered onion rings.

I had the delightful pork tenderloin, while Lisa went for the Old Fashioned Pot Roast.

As for Ben, well he will soon be looking like a steak at this rate.

He also loved his S'mores for sweet, while the apple cobbler a'la mode was totally yummy, as was Lisa's Browny Sundae.

As I said, Ben really enjoyed his S'mores, and had no intentions of sharing any with us!!

We had more cocktails & a bit more abuse from our cousin, who spoon fed me and Ben with Lisa's left overs, and we all left the restaurant very full & very happy.

We then headed off in time for a *** break for Lisa, while Ben & I posed again in front of the Rock n Roller Coaster guitar by night.

We then had to race into Fantasmic. It was standing room only, and again, it's never as good as the first time you saw it, but still spectacular in every way.

We headed straight back to AKL once the show finished, in need of a dip in the pool. We watched all the giraffes really close up to the fence through the stunning night vision goggles, which was a superb end to yet another superb day. We had to quickly pack a bag, as we had a really early start in the morning, travelling down to Tampa for Busch Gardens, and a night in The Best Western All Suites, close to the theme park.

 

[wicket2005]

Thank you for posting again. Photopass is good isn't it? We prepurchased and kept grabbing the photographers which I don't think they are that used to.

 

[jtlover]

Great report and it is good to see so many photos.

 

[kevg1889]

Thanks everyone for your great comments - they are driving me on to get the report finished. It's downloading the pictures & re-sizing them that takes all the time, & deciding which ones to use out of so many. I am hoping to get adventurous & include a video clip of the Sharks Deep Dive on day Day 12 so watch out for that

Thanks again & please stick with it, theres plenty more to come from our adventure of a lifetime

 

[florida sun]

Wow!!!Wow!!!Wow!!!!

Absolutly brilliant trip reports, Im totally hooked, loving your pcitures and your wonderful way of writing. I feel as though Im there with you. Keep up the good work and Im so looking forward to seeing and reading more. Fabulous

 

[kevg1889]

Day 11 Busch Gardens, Best Western All Suites
Saturday 4th August 2007

We were all up bright and early, ready to set off at 7-30am, to travel down the I4 to Tampa. I was now quite a veteran of this driving thing, and just slipped into cruise control, until we arrived at the Best Western All Suites at around 8-40am. We were only parking the car here, as we needed to be at Busch Gardens by 9am, to meet our Ultimate Tour Guide, as we had booked this special day with the proceeds of my birthday presents. The lady on reception kindly offered to run us to the park, so we arrived in plenty of time for rope drop.

Our guide was called Chad & he was a really nice young guy, who looked after us to perfection. We started by having breakfast in Sultans Sweets. This was a lovely selection of cakes & croissants etc with coffee. Then the fun began, going straight to the front seats on Gwazi, a rickety wooden coaster that really moves & shakes your bones.

Ben loved it, and he also loved it in Lory Landing, where we were first in & given a pot of nectar, and before we knew it we were covered in these wonderful birds. They were nibbling away at Bens ear, but as I told him, he'll soon be wanting birds to nibble his ears!!

Next came the greatest, scariest ride we've ever done, Sheikra. It has only recently become floorless, adding to the experience, and my, what an experience. Again, we were in the very front seats, and as the cars reach the top after a very steep climb, yo get spectacular views of Tampa. It is immensely high up there, then the car stops, just hanging over the sheer drop, leaving you looking straight down to the ground, and knowing that you will soon be dropping down there, which you do at over 70 miles per hour. Further drops & falls follow, together with water spraying everywhere as you flash through the lake. WOW what an experience, and to think Ben had never done a real coaster at all just a few days ago. This picture shows the cars halfway down the sheer drop. AAAARGH!!

Kumba was closed when we got there, so we did the cheetah chase, which is like our wild mouse ride, and I hated this ride, screaming like a girl as it took the corners at great speed. Ben & I did the Phoenix Pirate Ship, while Lisa had a *** break. This goes all the way over the top & hangs you upside down, and holds great memories from our last visit to BG back in '91, when my son Liam tried videoing us on it with hilarious results.

Lisa & Ben did the sandstormer, which is a spinny ride, so I sat this one out. This was followed by Scorpion, which was their most horrendous ride on our previous visit, but seems really tame now - how times change!! We moved on to the Rhino Rally, which is a different type of safari, especially when the land rover suddenly starts to float down the river. After having photo's with the Clydesdale horses, we went on Montu, which was every bit as good as Sheikra. On this ride the cars are attached to a track above, so you feel as though you are just dangling free, and being in the front seats is a real experience.

It was now time for our Safari, and another one of those lifetime best experiences, feeding the giraffes. We were handed handfuls of lettuce & two of these wonderful animals just took it from us.

We drove round the rest of the savannah, getting really close up & personal to all the animals, including zebras bongo's rhino's etc. Totally unforgettable, and another one of those emotional moments that seemed to have been coming thick and fast over the last 11 days.

This was followed by lunch in the upper level of the Crown Colony restaurant, with best seats in the house at this wonderful venue overlooking the savannah. We had beautiful salad starters, followed by succulent tender steaks, then Chad told our waitress that this was a birthday treat, so she brought out a very large slice of moist chocolate gateaux, which we struggled to polish off between us.

Here's a picture of Chad, with Ben & another one of me & Ben outside the wonderful Crown Colony

Time to carry on, so we caught the skyride, offering great views of the park, over to the water rides. First came Tidal Wave, which we remembered from our previous visit. We got wet, but not drenched, so we stood on the bridge where everyone gets soaked - and found the only spot where the water didn't hit!! We got much wetter on the rapids though & it amused us as we went under the bridge, thinking of my mother in law trying to film us in '91 & bumping into someone as she quickly turned from one side of the bridge to the other, again caught on film. The flume ride had stopped due to technical problems - so we did Sheikra again which certainly helped us to dry out.

Chad took us behind the scenes on our way back across the park to get to the Katonga Show. This is an excellent West End type production, & we had the best seats in the house yet again. We were flagging a bit now though, & Lisa almost nodded off in the comfort of her seat. We did a tour of all the animals next, with Chad giving us lots of information about them all, and taking us into places that regular guests couldn't enter. We had time for one more ride on Montu, before it was time to say goodbye to Chad. He gave us passes for two more rides each & put us back on the skyride before he left us, having spent an extra hour with us. We gave him a good tip, and we had really enjoyed his company. He had planned our day superbly, and I guess we felt a little flat after he left us.

We just wandered around a little, watching the rides, looking at the long lines & thanking our lucky stars that we had been able to not only get to the front of each line, but to ride in the front seats of each ride. It really had been money well spent. We hadn't had the time to take too many photo's, but we did get some good video footage, and I am hoping to add a link later to include some of these wonderful memories caught on film.

We sat underneath Sheikra for a while in the Zambia Smokehouse so we could have a drink & a bite to eat, but we didn't really enjoy it. I think, on reflection that we were really getting tired, as it had been another hectic day. Ben wanted to go back on Gwazi & Montu, so we headed back over there & then decided that we really had had enough, so we hobbled back through the animals to our locker, which was right back over the other side again. Here's a picture of us on Gwazi - scared? who's scared??

My feet were killing me & I couldn't wait to get in the pool & I was really glad we had booked into the Best Western for the night. We quickly got a taxi back there, checked in & just threw our things in the room before heading straight for the pool & a well earned glass of beer in the Parrots Cove bar. The pool was really busy, but it just felt so good to get in there for a short while, and after our drink, we headed straight back to our room. Ben ordered the games package on the TV and we left him to it, as I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer, so we dropped into bed to reflect on yet another amazing, unforgettable day.

 

[kevg1889]

Day 12 Part 1 The Lodge & Winter Summerland Golf
Sunday 5th August 2007

I woke up at around 8-30am and went straight for a dip in the pool. It was very hot, even this early, so I got the others up at around 9am and we went straight down for the complimentary breakfast, which was very nice, cereals, toast and scrambled eggs with sausages & grits. We had talked yesterday about heading for the beach, about 45 minutes drive away, but I think we were all so tired, that we decided to head back to AKL & just relax for the full day. Our stay at Best Western had been brief, but well worth the $100 it had cost us, including breakfast.

We had nothing planned until tonight, when Lisa & I were booked into Jiko's. We checked out of the hotel at around 10am & drove back up the I4. We called at the Publix supermarket on the 192 on our way back to AKL. It was lovely to look out of our balcony on our return, & see the giraffes again on the savannah. The view had not been quite this spectacular in the Best Western!!

We soon got round the pool, and there we stayed, sunbathing and relaxing in the pool. It really was very, very hot and after a few hours we needed to get out of the sun for a while, so Ben & I went off to play golf at Winter Summerland, playing the summer course. The heat really got to Ben a bit, & I thought he was going to keel over on me at one stage. He also used this as an excuse for the beating I gave him on the golf course. It's a lovely, fun course, but we may have enjoyed it more if it had been just a bit cooler! We couldn't wait to get back in the pool on our return to AKL.

Lisa had been pampering herself, ready for the meal we had most looked forward to, and I went back for a shower at around 5-30pm. Ben had planned a night in the arcade, and playing his new computer games, and he was going to eat at Mara, as he didn't really fancy anything on Jiko's menu. Lisa & I had a wander around the lodge, taking in all the savannahs & just enjoying the sheer beauty of the place that we considered to be paradise. Here are a selection of pictures that we took as we wandered around.

This is Lisa in front of the Igbo Agele mask, which is in the lobby area and makes a very imprssive centre piece:

Here I am outside the big window, on the walk to the savannah edge:

This one is taken at the bottom of the stairs leading outside to the fire pit, stood right in front of the magnificent large window looking back towards the lobby.

This is the firepit, where storytelling takes place at night & it is lovely to just sit in one of the rocking chairs and reflect on the magnificence of it all.

The wonderful giraffes & sebras on the savannah. We had had the absolute pleasure of feeding these animals on our safari yesterday, and we could have done it again here if we had had the time, as we often watched the safari run around the savannahs.

Finally, heres Lisa on the Savannah walk, looking back towards the big window.

It was all just so beautiful, and the atmosphere of the place is beyond words.

TO BE CONTINUED BELOW

 

[Beth__WDW23/6/02]

Well done on the weight loss,you did a fantastic job.

Loving the font also,and the pictures (I love loads of pictures) Im enjoying the trippie,its fantastic,keep em coming.

 

[kevg1889]

Day 12 Part 2 JIKO's

We had a good look around the very impressive shop, admiring the wonderful pictures of the lodge, and wishing we could afford to have one of the originals for our lounge at home, as a permanent reminder of paradise. We may have to make do with a smaller print.

So it was time to check in at Jiko's. The place is lovely inside, with the open fire ovens, chefs working in view of the customers, the bird lights, the hidden mickey & just the ambience of the place. we sat in the bar area for a short while, until being led to our table. The cast members go out of their way to pamper you, bringing warm towels & explaining the layout of the restaurant. We ordered the appetiser sampler, which was a platter consisting of 4 different appetisers from the menu. Each one was stunning, with my particular favourite being the lamb patis. We also had Lentil Pastilla, Maize & Sweet Potato Tamales & North African spiced Beef Bastela, and each one had a unique flavour, and they all had their own sauce accompaniment.

We had a bottle of red wine, which cost $67, recommended by our waiter, and his choice was very good, complimenting our meal perfectly. For main course, Lisa had Chermoula roasted Tanglewood Chicken, served in a Tagine dish which was totally stunning.

My own Oak grilled Filet mignon with macaroni cheese was probably the nicest thing I have ever tasted. The red wine sauce really was to die for & I savoured every single mouth full.

We also had a selection of African breads, each again, unique in flavour. Just when you think that food doesn't get any better than this, my Pistachio crème Brulee arrived. I may be wrong, but I am sure I saw angels in the building at this point!! I cannot even begin to describe it, just take it from me that if you like crème brulee, you will never taste a better on than this.

Lisa had the Jiko Dream Pyramid, which was exactly as described, a dream. This picture doesn't quite show how the pyramid stood off from the plate.

Lisa finished off with a glass of port, while I had coffee & the total bill came to over $200 with tip, which is by no means a cheap meal, but this was a dining experience to remember, & worth every cent. The chefs were happy to pose with us for pictures in front of the open fire cookers.

We met up with Ben & went with him to Mara for his meal. Here he is looking over the menu, can't see any steak, so it will have to be a burger!!

We had another wander around the lodge, sitting by the firepit & taking in the atmosphere of the place, while letting our wonderful meal settle. We then had another look through the night vision binoculars, which continued to amaze me, and gave the savannah a totally different perspective. We went to bed at around 11-30pm, ready for another early start in the morning, as Ben & I were going to get up close & personal with the sharks in Seaworld.

 

[lorapinky]

thanks for some more!

A fantastic report so far!

 

[CPer'sMom]

This is such a wonderful trip report!! I am loving reading it all, especially in some of the parts where I can just about hear you speaking in your British accent! Your pics are great ~ they add so much to the report. I can just see how much fun you all are having ~ hard to find a picture where you don't just have a huge smile on your face!

Happy belated Birthday to you! and thanks so much for sharing your special trip with us all