“You guys ready to go in?”  Tarry, one of our four guides, asks.  In where?  I wonder.  I thought our visit to this cheetah conservancy was going to be from this side of the security fence…  “We’re going inside the fence now so you can photograph the cheetahs without it obstructing your photographs.”  Say what?!!   “When […]

I hear someone say there are two giraffes at 9 o’clock.  As the Jeep slows down, I turn and see them in the distance.  They’re standing motionless on the side of the road and looking in our direction as if they’re not sure what to make of us.  The giraffe closest to the road decides […]

“Anyone see one?” I ask.  I hear, “Nope,” from the second row of the Jeep.  “Me neither.  Nothing,” from the first row.  “Just a lot of tall grass.”  We continue driving in search of twelve lions that our guides said are in the area.  The pride was spotted nearby this morning.  We all know they […]

“Her name is Huyguriva,” Nestor, my interpreter says, “but her nickname is Chicken.”  “Please tell her that it’s a pleasure to meet her, that my name is Lisa, and I’m from America.”  I listen as Nestor translates my message.  I don’t know the woman, but I’ve imagined meeting her ever since I saw images of […]

“There’s a zebra!”  I blurt out, excited to see my first zebra of the journey.  “We’re going to see a lot of zebra,” my guide Tarry says in his thick African accent, making the “zeb” rhyme with “web”.  “When we head north, there are going to be so many for you to photograph.  They will be […]

As kids, my sister and I drove our mom crazy asking, “How much farther?” when we traveled from our town on the Canadian border of northern Michigan over the Mackinac Bridge and continued south to visit relatives in southwest Michigan.  It seemed like we were in the car for days.  Actually, we had to entertain ourselves […]

I feel the heat from the bonfire on my face.  I bring my camera as low as I can in the sand and aim my lens upward toward the passionate dance in front of me.  The three San Bushmen I joined on a four-hour bush walk this morning are now chanting, clapping and rhythmically move their […]

One virtue required on a safari in Africa is patience.  Patience with the process of traveling all the way to a country like Namibia, which is at least two to three flights away from the United States.  Patience with the physical effects of the time change, which depend on a traveler’s adaptability and sleep patterns.  […]

I’m not a “birder.”  I swear, I’m not.  But I think I could become one.  I’ve travelled with “bird people” before and didn’t get it at first.  I used to think, “What’s with all the fuss over some pretty feathers?”  Looking back, I was bordering on being a bird snob.  Then one of my Facebook […]

While on safari, there’s always a little bit of excitement when pulling up to a watering hole because you never know what type of animals will be there.  Usually something is there.  So far, I’ve seen elephants, zebras, impalas and giraffes — or nothing at all.  The disappointment is almost palpable when the latter happens.  […]

There is something special about seeing a male lion while on safari, especially one that is side by side with a lioness.  That’s what I’m seeing right now.  The pair is a quintessential symbol of Africa, and they also represent the romance I associate with the continent.  I love everything about being here.  The people.  […]