We awake to blue skies and sunshine. I like this time of the day. It's lovely and quiet where we are and the birds don't seem as loud and chirpy as back home, although there does seem to be a pigeon intent on waking the neighbourhood with its throaty caw (or is that a coo?).

No rush this morning. We are headed over to the west coast of Florida today to Tampa. When we bought our theme park tickets it included Busch Gardens in the package and whilst a little out of the way it also gives us the opportunity of meeting up with more fellow cruisers. This time Pam and Scott from Zephyrhills, who we met on Freedom back in 2006, and who we have seen a couple of times since but sadly not on a ship. They were on the Allure the week before us so that was bad timing.

After a late breakfast we make our way westward on I-4 until we reach Busch Gardens. The temperatures are soaring by the time we arrive and make our way into the park. The thing we enjoy about Busch Gardens is that it's part zoo as well as theme park. As you enter some of the first animals you encounter are Alligators and they have some really big ones here. Not that they do much, just lie there basking in the sun. Am sure they would soon be alert if you got too close to them.

We decide to try the parks newest ride, the Cheetah Run, a high speed roller coaster that opened in 2010. We put our things in a locker, conveniently provided close by, and take a bathroom break first as Q time is about 25 mins. The bathrooms were close to another ride called Montu and as the Q time for that is zero minutes we hop on that first. Once I get off, after being flung through various loops and switchbacks, I begin to think my roller coaster days maybe coming to an end. Not as much fun as they used to be. Cheetah Run partly restores my faith as its very fast and exhilarating with only one upside down loop. We ride it twice in a row.

We then walk through the Edge of Africa seeing various animals such as Hippos, Lions, Gazelles and Elephants. We even see one of the Alligators, a big mean looking one, being fed a chicken, fully feathered but thankfully already dead. It was gone in one gulp. We arrive at Timbuktu, a section themed after the malls and bazaars of Africa where we buy a welcome iced drink as the sun is high in the sky and as hot as hell. Well maybe not that hot but still toasty roasty.

We decide not to try any of the water based rides as we are going straight to dinner after the park and do not want to be squelching through our appetizers. We have lunch and continue onto to Stanleyville and eventually the bird gardens. The heat and humidity are really taking their toll on me at this point and have zapped me of all energy. We decide to leave the park and head somewhere with aircon...a shopping mall perhaps. We return to the car but it is a full 5 minutes before we can even get inside as it's that hot. I swear if we had left a pie in the car before we entered the park it would now be baked to perfection.

We end up in Channelside, after getting lost in Ybor City, and think we have stepped into the Twilight Zone. The place is pretty much deserted and there is a fat guy patrolling around wearing a Batman costume. He asks me to let him know if I see Robin..weird. Peter has managed to hack into a local wifi signal and we head towards the International Plaza Mall. It's blissfully cool inside and we spend some time looking around Dillards and Nordstroms.

By now it's time to head toward Plant City and dinner with Pam and Scott. The weather which has held up all day decides to deteriorate as we make our way back along I-4 and the heavens open. We arrive at our destination not long after so not too bad. It's great to meet up with Pam and Scott and it doesn't feel like its been 6 years since we last saw them. We have a lot of laughs over dinner but a couple of hours is not long enough to catch up fully and we agree we must cruise again together again...soon.

After dinner we wish each other goodbye and continue our journey back to Kissimmee. It's been a long, hot day. But again fun.