African Safari
The word serendipity flows through my life a lot and it was especially apparent during our recent safari in Kenya. We all know that traveling can get stressful. 30 hours from St. Croix to Miami, Miami to Qatar and Qatar to Kenya just opens it up for a whole new slew of potential disasters. Fortunately, each time an issue arose, it would remarkably take care of itself or we would find a better alternative. Flight delays, missed flights, inclement weather {including a massive flood}, car and plane troubles, sickness…none of these things could get in the way of what became an epic safari.
You can access our full itinerary of our trip from yesterday’s post but here are some of my personal highlights. Due to the recent flooding, we had been told that many of the animals had moved to higher ground, making it inaccessible for our land rover. Throughout each of the 4 parks, we discovered new and beautiful animals but felt uncertain we’d see any big predators. At Lake Nakuru, we were lucky in that J spotted a leopard from a mile away with his eagle eyes. We figured this would be our first and final sighting of one. Masai Mara was our last stop and definitely the place to view big gorgeous cats, especially lions as was my request to our guide. Not 10 minutes in, we were welcomed into the park by a gorgeous lioness sunning herself so close to the road, we were just a few breaths away. This completely reenergized us after our 7 hour journey on what had been the bumpiest road yet {I still say the roads are better there than on St. Croix}.
We were able to observe many lioness’ and their cubs the next day but what really surprised me is how awestruck I became at the second leopard we had the opportunity to see. We got much closer this time and I was able to see more of this beautiful creature. There is a great intensity about leopards. It gave me chills. They stalk and slink and have such a burning gaze. I actually brought back a hand carved ebony leopard for my father for father’s day and if you know me, I’m not really big on “cliche” souvenirs like this. You won’t find me gravitating towards magnets or shot glasses but the leopard struck such a chord in me that I just knew I had to bring a piece back in remembrance.
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