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🦓 Pt 1: The safari was the part of my South African trip I was most excited about. My group and I were so used to seeing animals in zoos that witnessing them in the wild was a completely different experience. When we entered the reserve, we assumed the animals were monitored by park rangers and that sick ones were rehabilitated. To our surprise, our guide informed us that these were truly wild animals—many avoided humans altogether, but we were warned to be especially cautious of apex predators, who weren’t afraid to take a closer look at us.

As I gazed at a distant hill—one I jokingly wanted to believe was Stone Mountain—I was stunned to realize it wasn’t just part of the landscape; it was a massive herd of buffalo. What struck me most was how well-camouflaged the animals were. Even the larger creatures blended seamlessly into the terrain, making each sighting feel like a game of I-Spy.

Impalas were everywhere, a constant reminder of how much the larger predators relied on them for food. That reality sank in even more when we had the chance to taste impala ourselves at our encampment—a full-circle moment in our wild adventure.