Tuesday, January 28th: Busch Gardens, continued.....THE CHEETAH ENCOUNTER!
Once our two guides arrived (one guide was in training, the other was the Lead guide), they checked in each of the tour guests and verified the age and height of the lone child participant. The trainee guide explained that this tour was brand new (launched only a few weeks earlier on December 24th), and was still in the development stages in some aspects. One of the things they had discovered through the early tours was that the cheetahs were fixated on smaller children, so in an abundance of caution they were holding very firm to the minimum height and age requirements to ensure guest safety. The 10 year old who was registered to participate JUST (and I mean, just-by-a-hair) met the minimum height, so they checked her and double checked to ensure that yes, she could take part. Both she and her mom were quite relieved when she was given the green light by the senior staffers and our tour was officially allowed to get underway.
Safety precautions were a HUGE part of the first part of our Encounter.....they were presented to our small group very clearly and directly, and the importance of following them was made well known before we had opportunity to be in the presence of any animal. Cheetahs are FAST .... the world's fastest land animal, in fact .... and the Busch Gardens cheetahs are new to this experience. They are animals, and they act (and react) like animals. For our safety and for theirs, it was vital that we all followed the guidelines and rules as they were presented to us.
Once all those guidelines were explained and everyone appeared to have a good understanding of the expectations, we were introduced (through the glass viewing window) to the beautiful girl who would be the subject of our adoration for the next half an hour: the lovely miss Kabisa.
Pictures do not do this gorgeous creature justice. She was so incredibly beautiful....and she had POISE. Seriously. This girl was a show-stopper and all 8 of us tour participants were completely in awe of her. In fact, the two guides admitted that even after hosting this tour once a day for the last 4 weeks, the novelty of being able to be up close to a real live cheetah hadn't lost its thrill. They were just as captivated and impressed as we were.
We all got to watch as they offered Kabisa the harness that she would wear throughout the encounter. As with all SeaWorld parks animal interactions, participation in each tour or encounter is at the sole discretion of the animal. If they show ANY sign of not wishing to be part of the interaction, there is no forcing of them to do so. It is 100% their choice, with no negative repercussions if they choose to opt out. So the harness was offered, and we waited to see if Kabisa chose to wear it or chose to walk away. Happily for our little group of 8, she seemed quite happy to get gently suited up, and was rewarded with chunks of fresh meat from the training staff as positive reinforcement of her cooperation.
Kabisa was calm and relaxed, but you could see the keepers were on full alert. They shared all sorts of neat information about her age, her characteristics, and how she came to live at Busch Gardens Tampa as they allowed her the time she needed to feel comfortable to move on to the interaction portion of the tour. Once she was ready and the training staff had fully secured her, our group was led into a locked area inside the cheetah habitat that was prepped for our arrival.
They had a big cheetah-sized box for her that the trainers had been working with her to use as a place to sit during the tours. As they walked her on the harness toward the box, they allowed her to mill around at her leisure until she felt like that's where she wanted to be. After she poked around a bit, she silently hopped up and decided it was a fine place to lounge as we all looked on.....and of course, she was provided with a variety of more positive rewards (verbal praise, chunks of meat, etc.) in recognition of her cooperation. We were given the okay to take photos while she got comfy, and the trainers continued sharing all sorts of great information about the care and enrichment that Busch Gardens provides these animals in their habitat in the park.
When Kabisa was able to convey that she was ready, each family group was brought up individually to have their own time with her. Each of us had the opportunity to pet her as directed by the training staff, and it was so cool to feel how different she feels from a house cat!! (their fur is COMPLETELY different) We were not rushed or hurried, and while there was no Photokey staff member present to take pictures, the guides were happy to snap a bunch for us with our personal phones and cameras.
Kabisa looked pretty relaxed about the whole hands-on thing, but as we were petting her, she emitted an audible ..... growl? I think my heart stopped for at least a brief second or two.....and I wondered if we were about to perhaps lose an arm or two LOL. I said to the trainer who was standing beside me, "oh oh, I think she just growled at us!". And she grinned at me and said,
That's not a growl.....that's a purr. She's enjoying herself quite a lot right now.
That moment, right there, was worth every single dollar we paid for that experience. I could have cried with happiness.
Since they only take a maximum of 8 people in each tour, and only hold one Encounter per day, we were not at all rushed and given more time with Kabisa than I would have expected. The staff were great about making sure we all got a good "posed" photo in addition to the candid shots they took during our interaction, which we all very much appreciated. While each family was having their individual time with the cheetah, the other participants were able to chat with the remaining BG animal care staff who were keeping a close watch off to the side.......they were great about answering guest questions during those interactions but you could see they always still had one eye on Kabisa in case the two trainers working alongside her needed assistance in a hurry. The total number of Busch Gardens staff for this tour, between the animal care staff and the tour guides, equaled (or maybe even exceeded) the number of guests taking part in the Encounter. We felt the "wild"-ness of this experience but truly felt every safety precaution possible was put into place.
After the interactions were completed, they removed her box and let Kabisa move around a bit (safely away from us guests) while still harnessed so they could talk about, and show us, her unique body structure and how it allows her to run as fast as she does.
The tour itself lasted about 45 minutes from start to finish (including the pre-tour safety chat), but the time flew by. I think all of us were a little sad when it was time to return Kabisa to her habitat where she could shed the harness and spend the rest of the day running free.
We paid $89.99 per person, less a 10% savings as passmembers, which I believe is the lowest price point for this tour.....higher crowd days and/or seasons command an increased tour price from that slow January weekday. This tour also only runs on certain days of the week (as do most BG tours, except for the safari which is offered daily) and only once on those scheduled days. With only 8 participants maximum for each session, they tell me spots fill fast....and even on that slow Tuesday, all spots were filled by 10:30 am. So, if you're ever thinking of booking, be sure to plan ahead to guarantee your spot.
I spent the rest of the day walking on air. Between feeding the giraffes and then petting a cheetah (and making her purr!), I had a hard time wiping the smile off my face. This first visit was going pretty well ;-) . We still had an awful lot of day left, though......so once we wrapped up with Kabisa, we were off to check out even more of what Busch Gardens had to offer.
Much more to come!