Last night, the Leadership team announced an amazing surprise for all of the teams. We would be able to take the day off from training today and go on a safari in the morning! We rolled out of bed this morning at 6, and we were on the road by 6:30. It was about an hour drive to the park.
As we drove down the long driveway in our vans, we passed an ostrich that followed us to the gate. There were 4 safari Jeeps waiting for us to board. As we climbed on, I carefully selected a seat in the front of the Jeep. I wasn’t about to miss seeing anything!
They opened the large gate to the park and we were off on our 3-hour adventure! The first section we were in was the elephant, gazelle, and lion section of the park. We started driving down a bumpy road where we saw evidence of elephants near… fresh dung! I had never been so excited to see elephant excrement in my life. It meant we were getting closer to our first sighting! After about 10 minutes, we finally saw one! It was a big one with two little babies. They were so precious. They were kind of shy though so I don’t have a good picture of the babies. But trust me, they were adorable. Not knowing I would be so gung-ho about it, our Jeep driver asked if I wanted to ride one. I answered with an enthusiastic “YESSS!” He told me that he was just kidding. He was toying with my emotions! (I
will ride on in Thailand!)
We saw lots of other animals in the park including giraffes, lions, gazelles, impalas, and gorgeous birds. Every time I saw fresh dung I knew to get excited. I would get our whole Jeep to quietly chant “Fresh dung, fresh dung, fresh dung!” (That’s for you G&G). We spotted a rhino and its baby. Apparently they didn’t like being in the photo shoot, so they decided to charge our Jeep. They got within 2 yards and then backed off. I’m not “lion”; it was scary! (Wow, so cheesy. I just couldn’t resist!) Quite the adrenaline rush!
If you ever have a chance, go on a safari. It’s one of the most amazing experiences!
