day on the safari

People ask me daily what my favorite part of the trip was and I wish I could be more missionary-like and not say - the animal park. This was indeed one of the coolest parts of our trip. I love taking the girls to the zoo, so getting to do a wild game park in Africa just cannot be topped. The only way it could have been better was had the girls and Ben been with me. Although I am not sure I would have opted for an open jeep ride with the girls and lions as close as they were.
I did not sleep the night we stayed at the park. One I was incredibly hot in blue jeans, bandanna wrapped around my head, long-sleeved t-shirt and no a.c. See, you get really freaked out when planning a trip to Africa and the nurse administering your meds tells you that you can die within 24 hours if you are stung by a mosquito infected with malaria. So, I was covered from head to toe b/c our cabana was opened at the top where the thatch roof was connected. I loved being here, I loved the noises. I could hear the lionesses after a kill. I could hear the hippos early morning grunting and wrestling. I could hear the birds chirping. I was just enjoying nature at its best. I just did not want to miss a thing. One thing I discovered this morning was the sun rises at 4:30 a.m. so I got to sort of see an African sunrise (very tall grasses, so not really official sun rise)
These animals were this close, no editing. The pic of Kevin is taken as he is discovering he is standing in front of a croc-filled lake. The tree pic is of African Honey Bees, there were so many you could hear them as we were getting out of the truck.
The guide told us we were very lucky - I say blessed, to see the giraffes. Everything was very green and lush, so we did not see many animals, but the giraffes are the hardest to spot.