Nom.

We just got back from a week in Disney World, and it was a grand success. I’ll post lots of pictures later, I’m sure.

By far, the absolute BEST thing that happened all week was when we took the girls to Animal Kingdom on Tuesday, and rode the Kilimanjaro Safari ride twice. We grabbed a Fast Pass and then jumped in line, rode the ride, and then used our fast pass immediately afterwards. The second time on the Safari was the truly amazing one, because a baby giraffe decided that he really really really wanted to get upcloseandpersonal with our truck. So he did, shutting down the ride for a good 5 minutes or more while our driver called the gamekeeper and asked for help distracting him.

He decided that our truck’s canopy looked really tasty, so he sampled it (click on any picture to see it larger):

nibble

NOM NOM NOM NOM!!

Nom!

When he heard all of us giggling and carrying on about his silly behavior, he stopped and looked at us, as if to ask, “What? What’s so funny?”

What\'s so funny?

In the meantime, our driver is on the radio, talking to the gamekeepers who assure us that someone is on their way to help out. All of us on the truck are frantically trying to take pictures without standing up and without alarming the little guy (little!? He was about 7-8 feet tall, probably)… So the baby giraffe went back to his snack:

munch munch munch

And finally the gamekeeper drove up in his truck, instantly attracting ALL of the giraffes in the vicinity (I think there were 4 nearby at the time). They must hand out treats from these trucks because every single giraffe turned towards the gamekeeper, and our ride was allowed to continue.

treats!?

I’m very glad that we were on the second time through the safari when this happened and not the first, because the overly-scripted sorority-girl voice of the first driver would have made us INSAAAAANE for that extra bit of time. The driver we had was extremely professional, calm, and quite amused by the whole thing.

And the girls, of course, were totally and completely enchanted by the chance to be so very very close to a baby giraffe. We stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge and had a view of the savannah, so giraffes were walking by all day long, but usually at a minimum of 40 feet away. So less than 10 feet? HUGE treat for them — and for us. What a great day!