A Safari to Remember From Towering Giraffes to Empathetic Elephants 🌿🐘🦒
Explore Africa with Margie as she discovers hidden sanctuaries, rare wildlife, and the wisdom of elephants.
Hello, nature lovers, adventure dreamers, and world travelers,
I’m thrilled to welcome back Margie Carpenter—fellow adventurer, inspiring storyteller, and my Mom—as she continues sharing her life-changing journey through Africa.
If you missed the beginning of her adventure, you can catch up here.
Off the Beaten Path and Into the Bush 🌍
Southern Africa is one of the last untouched wilderness destinations in the world. My safari took me through a private game reserve and four fantastic national parks, all with a small group of just 15 fellow travelers. As a result, we could go beyond tourist tracts and discover hidden hideaways.
We explored the bush and savannah with a very experienced local guide, Sku, and tracker, Wonder. They told us that they were trained “30% by our tour company and 70% by growing up in the Bush!!” Their deep knowledge of the animals, birds, insects, trees, and plants was hard to believe!
The Big Five and Beyond 🦁
Sku and Wonder’s ability to track, spot, and locate the animals was incredible to watch and experience. But, even with their fantastic skills, they told us that we were extremely lucky to see such a large number and variety of animals during our whole trip! Apparently, their last group didn’t see one lion on their entire tour! However, we saw lions every day as well as the rest of “The Big Five”: Cape buffalo, rhinoceros, African elephant, leopard, and African lion.
But the adventure didn’t stop there.
We also enjoyed seeing lots of giraffes, zebras, hippos, baboons, crocodiles, and more. In addition, we spotted very hard-to-find cheetahs, wild dogs, warthogs, wildebeests, jackals, and hyenas.
We were told that leopards are almost impossible to find. But we found them on three separate occasions. In addition, we spotted many herds of antelopes: kudus, bushbuck, puku, waterbuck, and Impalas (not the car!).
My Elephant Awakening 🐘
I’ve always loved giraffes. They are the tallest mammals on Earth, and a group is called a “Tower. They can run as fast as 35 mph for short distances or cruise at 10 mph for longer periods. They can live up to 25 years with their heart weighing about 26 pounds and neck 600 pounds, but are only approximately six feet long. Therefore, they have trouble reaching the ground and only drink water every few days.
However, after this journey, my new favorite is the elephant!
They live 65 to 80 years, but sadly, there are only about 45,000 left in the world. It takes only a few hours for a baby elephant to learn to stand, and he can walk with the herd in just TWO days. However, they need a year to master controlling their little trunks! Elephants continue to grow their entire lives! A medium-sized adult elephant drinks 4-6 liters per trunk load, up to 12 liters for the big guys!
It’s a proven fact that elephants do have great memories. They show empathy and concern for others. They always put their babies in the middle of the herd to protect them and are known to help others. In addition, they express compassion, grief, and altruism. Plus, I was so fortunate to go to an elephant sanctuary to pet and feed them, so no wonder I like them best!
If you’re curious about the wildlife of Southern Africa and how to support conservation efforts, here is a resource to learn more: WWF South Africa – Wildlife Conservation.