Animal Kingdom 1

Animal Kingdom 1

The last time I visited Disney World was in 1980 when my oldest son was 5 years old. At that time the only theme park there was the Magic Kingdom. It sure has grown over the past 30 years! I am assuming that many, if not most of you, have visited Disney World already so the photos I will share will serve to bring back memories. For those of you who haven't been there, the photos will let you see what can be made from swampland in central Florida. I remember seeing a documentary about Walt Disney and how people thought he was crazy to think he could build a second Disneyland in the swamp he purchased. Even though he died in 1966, he certainly had a huge impact on the Orlando area.

We spent the first day at the Animal Kingdom. For the next few days I'll share some of the photos I took in that park. Even though it was still fairly early as we approached the Animal Kingdom, a sign informed us that one of the parking lots was already full and we were directed to our parking space by several traffic attendants. The line-up for a tram wasn't quite as organized, but there were many so there wasn't a long wait. There was another line-up where bags were checked by security, then another where our "cards" had to be scanned along with a fingerprint.

Finally, we were inside the Animal Kingdom where the crowds were stopping to look at the various animals and birds on both sides of the paths. I've uploaded 10 photos taken along the path to the Kilimanjaro Safaris Expedition, the ride Sam has been talking about since seeing the video on line several weeks ago.

  The first photo is the Tree of Life, a large man-made tree that has carvings of 325 animals. There is also a theatre located inside the tree. A small flock of pink flamingos attracted a few people. I made several images of them before moving on. Sam stopped to view fish swimming in a pond. There were quite a few people around and I was lucky to capture him alone as a large fish swam by.


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Bahama Bay Resort - Florida 3

Bahama Bay Resort - Florida 3

Early the next morning I got up early and took another walk around Bahama Bay Resort near Orlando, Florida. The GPS actually called the area Davenport and the nearest Walmart Superstore was about a 5 minute drive from the resort and in Haines City. Technically we weren't in the city of Orlando, but I will call continue to call it the Orlando area.

As you can see from the photos, the Bahama Bay Resort is scenic and well kept. As we walked along the nature trails I made photographs of trees, ponds, a fountain, birds and a small alligator that was resting on a beach area in one of the ponds. Even though I saw the same type of birds that I had photographed previously in other parts of Florida, I didn't get an opportunity to photograph them because they were usually too far away. 
Like in other parts of Florida I have visited, there were many fire ants and their nests all around the park especially in the grass near sidewalks. After pointing several out to Sam, my grandson who will be 4 in September, he was a good spotter and regularly warned us not to step on them.


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Flowers

Flowers

I walked around my yard this afternoon and photographed a few of the many varieties of flowers that are growing here. I thought I'd share a few of them with you.


While in Florida, we missed most of the tulips but quite a few are still blooming nicely. A showy tree with white flowers is blooming by the side of my house. It may be a chuckley pear but I am not sure. It seems like there are too many blossoms. My bleeding heart has more blooms this year than the previous three years.

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Bahama Bay Resort - Florida 2

Bahama Bay Resort - Florida 2

Today, I am sharing the last of the photos taken during our first evening at Bahama Bay Resort in central Florida.

It was good to see the colours of many types of flowers. At home my tulips were just beginning to bloom when we left. The many shades of green on trees and other plants was also good to see after a long winter. The swimming pool shown is one of four located around the resort.  This one is located directly behind the Tradewinds Restaurant & Bar, one of 2 restaurants in Bahama Bay Resort.


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