That Time I Went on a Safari

In addition to meeting amazing people in South Africa, I got to see some amazing sights, including going on a "game drive" one afternoon.  That is what they call safaris.  When I think of safaris, I often think of multi-day excursions through the bush, and this wasn't that--but it was certainly incredible to spend a few hours driving around in a jeep in a game reserve, seeing the wild animals in their element!

All of the wild animals in South Africa are contained in game reserves, basically national parks that are fenced off, but they are living in the wild--thousands of miles of protected, wild, natural habitat. 

My favorite were the giraffes.  I wanted to snuggle one.  Almost immediately when we pulled into the game reserve, we saw a giraffe on the side of the road, just munching some leaves...no big deal.  Ha!  I mean, it's normal to see a deer doing that--but a giraffe??  I was smitten.

We drove a little further into the reserve and had lunch at a lovely restaurant overlooking the savannah.  We could see giraffes roaming in the distance and a crocodile lounging in a murky pond nearby.  There were also zebra roaming the grounds of the restaurant.  Just a little bit cool. 

 

 

I lived on the wild side (see what I did there?) and ordered ostrich for lunch.  It was surprisingly good--not as tasty as a sirloin steak by any means, but not bad.

Then we loaded onto the Jeeps and went animal hunting!

We saw impala, rhino, water buffalo, more giraffes...so amazing!

The best part, by far, was when we were surrounded by a herd of elephants.  They walked right by us, and one guy came within five feet of the Jeep, not kidding, and reached his trunk out as if he would touch us, before slowly meandering away.  Just the coolest, most surreal moment ever.  They seemed like the most gentle, wrinkly giants ever.

 

It was an incredible evening that I will never forget.  But honestly, even those beautiful animals pale in comparison to the amazing people I met in South Africa.  Nothing will ever come close to that!