:Safari:

I continually have to pinch myself to remember that I am here and experiencing the things I am.  We just returned from a three day safari! It was so unreal and the entire trip was something I will never forget. We arrived to the fame reserve Friday afternoon and got to see the other half of our SA group (they divided the 50 of us into two safari trips), they had just finished safari.  And out of the entire weekend, being reunited with them only for a few minutes was the best! After not seeing each other for three days, we all greeted each other with hugs. Three days is not that long, but we all genuinely missed each other a lot! It really went to show how much the group has grown and how hard it will be to leave this semester.  After we said our hellos, we had to say our goodbyes. The other group left to go back to the AE Campus and we began our safari!

We were greeted by Matt and Andy who would be our guides, along with Reg. We were told the many important rules of the reserve and then were immediately on our way.  I ended up in Andy's Jeep and we began our ride! The first thing I remember seeing were giraffes, which were not very far away from our open vehicle.  It was amazing to be so close and personal with these large and wild creatures! 

We spent the rest of the afternoon just driving around, taking millions of back roads, trying to find the biggest game.  I got to see rhinos, zebras, wildebeests, impalas, and warthogs all on the first day! It was an unbelievable thing. We were completely surrounded by nothing, we were the only people for miles and were surrounded by God's beautiful creations.  It was really relaxing to sit in that Jeep, speeding down dirt roads, wind blowing, blue skies, beautiful scenery and a giraffe every couple minutes. After the first day out on the reserve, we were escorted to our tents with our roommates.  As soon as I saw the tent I would be staying in my mouth dropped.  There were the largest tents I have ever seen. It had a porch and a bathroom connected to it, as well as two beds that were bigger than the ones we have back at AE.  Let's just say that "roughin' it" could barely be considered rough.  

We settled in and made our way to dinner in a large tent down the camp site where Andy's wife, Susie, cooked us a delicious African meal! We were then dropped back off at our tents by Reg and hurried inside.  The thing about this camp site is that it's on the middle of the reserve where all the animals I had seen earlier run free, so free that the night before there were lions and hyenas on camp! Because of this we were not allowed outside of our tents after dark.  Another thing about the camp site was that all power went out at 10 pm, so we got completely ready for bed before the lights shut off on us.  Our beds also had large mosquito nets that covered us so we wouldn't get eaten alive (I am proud to say I did not get bite once the entire trip)! Once the lights were off it was pitch black and I realized how outdoors I was. I could hear every single noise and I laid in bed praying I would hear a lion grunting outside my tent. I began to worry the two sippers that separated me from the outside was not enough! I eventually feel asleep only to be awoken at 4:45 am! We got dressed and ready in the dark with the help of our flashlights and head lamps.  We then opened our tent and stood on our gated porch until we saw our jeep down the road.  We ate a light snack and headed our immediately. The morning air was pretty brisk and definitely did a good job of waking me up.  

Within no even twenty minutes of our ride Reg radioed Andy reporting that he found what we had all been hoping for... lions. Andy slammed on the gas and just like out of an Indiana Jones movie we were flying through the reserve. We spotted Reg and Andy dropped the engine. OUr jeep crept up to the spot and three beautiful lions came into view.  It was perfect. The sun was just rising and they were sun bathing.  There were two males and one female, and they were so amazing.  I snapped a billion pictures! Then one of the males stood up and walked off. Next them female stood and moved to the left of our vehicle and the other male followed her.  They hunched into the grass and I realized they were about to hunt! Suddenly, in perfect timing, some zebras came trotting down the road further down the road. We had a great view of what was about to happen. The zebra paused for a moment, but then continued on. The male launched to his feet and hurled after a zebra. All we could here was the frantic trotting of the zebra's hoofed feet, and then they both disapperaed into the bush.  The lioness stood and listened with us, nothing. It ended up being an unsuccessful hunt. The male returned and we watched them for a bit longer until they both disappeared into the bush.  By this time it was only 7 am and it was by far one of the best mornings of my life!

We continued to see more and finally saw what I had been waiting for... elephants! They were in a herd of at least 20, including some babies.  It was like straight out of a movie, they were all lined up, connected trunk to tail and just strolling through the bush. We saw so many animals and then finally stopped for lunch in the reserve.  We continued on the rest of the day spotting more rhinos, elephants, and zebras. However we were all scanning the bush for cheetahs or leopards. We ended our day around 5:30 pm. We were all exhausted and falling asleep in the Jeeps.

We then had an amazing braai for dinner! It was so good and the chicken was to die for! We also roasted marshmallows outside the tent on the grill. It was a really good night and my group bonded a lot under the breath-taking stars. We were heading back to the Jeeps to take us to the tents when we had some visitors who wanted some food... the hyenas were already on the camp site looking for something. Some of my friends came face-to-face with them.  We were all completely freaked out and everyone, including me, ran back to the tents.  We got ready for bed and turned out the lights but instead of freaking myself out about the hyenas we talked about life until we feel asleep.  I woke up again bright and early, packed and got picked up.  We ate a small snack and headed out.  We immediantly saw hyena, which I'm sure was just leaving camp. We continued and drove across the reserve and had a huge breakfast at the reserve buffet. After breakfast we packed up and headed out for our last two hours on the reserve.  In this time we saw rhinos rolling around in mud and wild dogs eating their kill (wild dogs are the most rare to see on safari). We ended our trip with no cheetah or leopard sightings but I had the most amazing time!

It is still unreal to me that I was able to expericnce this.  A safari is something I never thought I would have the oppurtunity to do, yet here I am just returning from my first one and hopefully not my last. I was, however, excited to return to the place I now call home and see the friends I now call family. God has truly blessed me and I could not be more happy with my life than I am at this moment.  I am in Africa, living an incredible life.  I owe God everything for the way He blesses me everyday. I am a very lucky girl!