On Safari - Love in the City of Light

Our next stop was 320 kilometers (or a four hour drive) northwest of Johannesburg. Madikwe Game Reserve is located in South Africa’s North West Province, bordering Botswana. We chose this lesser known park for its variety of wildlife and malaria-free location. Even before arriving to our lodge, Visser, our skilled ranger, introduced us to a male lion napping in the late afternoon sun. What a sight! We were now officially ‘on safari’.

Our home became the Motswiri Private Safari Lodge, a five-star luxury lodge that took every care to make us feel like this new routine of heading out at 6 am to look for animal tracks in hopes of catching a glimpse of one of the many wild animals living in Madike, was all part of the fun. From day one, we were hooked!

Within our first 24 hours on safari, we were lucky enough to see the “Big Five” – African lion, African leopard, Cape buffalo, African elephant, and the rhinoceros – named for their difficulty in being hunted (not to mention the five deadliest animals). The regal giraffe and zebra were also quite a sight!

It was the elephants that we became most familiar with. From their bathing habits to nearly being charged by one of the eldest in the group. I still find the African elephant, the largest land animal in the world, to be a gentle creature – at a distance, of course. We were sad to learn of the continuous poaching going on in all parts of Africa, of both the African Elephant for its ivory and the rhinoceros for its horns (which have absolutely no medicinal value). I designed my Kenya bag collection in an effort to raise money in protection of this elephant.

My favorite sightings during our four-day safari were the lions. These gorgeous creatures are fierce yet uniquely beautiful. King of the jungle (and the African bush), after all. It was this moment, catching a couple lazily lounging in the late morning sun with their cubs nearby, that I will remember forever.