Our first trip to Africa
April 15th, 2014 by Kristina
Our first trip to Africa, Zambia and Botswana, was in 2007. Mills Africa put it together. After returning home I called in to give our report. Then, I was told “you guys really got it!” And, I replied YES! We did get it and now our fourth trip is in the works.
It is an experience unlike any other….the scenery, the reddest sunsets that you will ever see, and the animals. It is also an education….the history and the people. If you make the effort to get to know your guide and the camp staff, you will learn about not only them but how they live. This year we saw a man who had been our guide in 2007 and the first thing that he did was show us his wedding ring. Another guide from the 2007 trip was our guide this year at a different camp. He, too, recently married and we hand delivered a letter from him to his wife who works at another camp.
I hate to go to sleep at night ….I might miss the sounds of animals, nearby or far away. One night I heard an elephant next to our tent pulling up grasses and eating. When the wake up came in the morning, I told our guide to be careful as there had been an elephant next to our tent ALL night. At breakfast I found out that there had been over one hundred elephants in camp. Not just one.
Each early drive starts with reviewing the sounds of the night and reading the “morning news”. We look for comings and goings in the sand as we head out. It is a bit like going fishing…you never know what you will find or where it might be.
As we approach the end of a trip I am always sad. It is like reading a really good book and the end is only a page away. But, it is the animal experience that lives in our hearts and continues to take us back to Africa.
Margaret C – Seattle, WA
