Hello Disney Tricksters,
This Trick is all about the Wild Africa Trek at Animal Kingdom. We had a wild time and made sure to say Jambo to the Hippos and Asante Sana to the Animal Keepers!
Details:
The Wild Africa Trek is a 3 hour tour at Animal Kingdom that includes trekking on a bridge above the Crocodiles, feeding the Hippos, eating on the Savanna and getting a private Safari Tour. The tour can only be scheduled by calling (407)939-8687. There are multiple times per day typically including: 8 AM, 8:45 AM, 9:30 AM, 10:15 AM, 11:45 AM, 12:30 PM, 1:15 PM, and 2:30 PM. A portion of the tour price is donated to Disney’s Conservation Fund and, at the end of the tour, you get to choose which project your portion gets donated to, either the Giraffes (hooved animals), Lions (Cats), Elephants, Rhinos or Disney’s General Conservation Fund. This is a hiking trek so be sure you and your family can hike for at least one and a half hours through the backstage areas of the Savanna! We met our tour guides Mandi and Amanda at the Kilimanjaro Safari entrance. Then were fitted for our gear which we wore the entire hiking time, given a water bottle to keep and a cute name tag! We were then taken through the Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail to the entrance of the trek. We saw and fed Hippos inside the exhibit, walked over Crocodiles, went into their exhibit and learned facts about them, got on the private safari, ate some yummy food from Tusker House that is exclusive to the tour (Chicken Curry Salad and Salmon Roulade), then finished our private safari.
Tricks:
Call during the same month that you would like to book your tour and try for a weekday. If you are an Annual Passholder, be sure to mention that on the phone as there are specific time slots allow a Passholder discount. For both Keat and I the tour was around $350 after the discount. We did the 11:45 AM tour which qualified for the AP discount. We also did the tour just after a storm and all of the animals were out!
Bring your own camera with a neck strap and your phone for photos but everything else has to go in a locker. The guides take photos throughout the Trek which are uploaded two days later and all included in your tour. Eat before you go as the food given is small portions. I’d also recommend doing it in spring as we saw many baby animals including baby giraffes, elephants, birds and even the first baby hippo at Disney in 13 years!
Thoughts:
This was one of the most amazing experiences I’ve had at Walt Disney World. I HIGHLY recommend this tour as the guides and animal keepers are extremely knowledgeable and engaging. The food was in small portions but delicious and the tour group is limited to 10 people!
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