Ft. Myers - Day Two - Busch Gardens, Rhino Tour
Busch Gardens - Rhino Tour
Friday we headed to Tampa and Busch Gardens. Rob was looking forward to riding some coasters, Jenny and I were excited to check out some animals and Kathy loves people watching. We chose Friday so we would have our pick of potential ‘extras’ at the park.
Up and on the road early to get a full day in, we missed most of the traffic and got to Tampa just after the park opened. Jenny looked at the animal add-ons on the way, and insisted we immediately get tickets for the behind the scenes Rhino tour. It was a good thing she did, as the check in for the tour was in about 20 minutes from the time tickets were purchased.
Kathy and Rob headed off for some coasters and people watching.
The Rhino tour was amazing, although Jenny was was still waking up a bit at the start. We climbed aboard one of the “safari” trucks and headed through the back area of the park to our first stop where we would meet and pet a rhino. We met one of the animal keepers and got lots of great info about both the rhino’s and the care they get. The first stop was with a White Rhino, and we learned that the names have little to do with their color, but English misunderstandings of other languages name for a rhino.
From there we went on to the second stop - a black rhino named Jody. Her horn was much smaller because she rubs it and keeps it short. The keepers weren’t sure why, only that she has done it her whole life. Black rhinos are very solitary and live in the wild as singles, only getting together briefly to mate. Busch Gardens has just one black rhino at the moment for that reason, but occasionally brings a male in for their species survival program.
