I’m in flight, heading back to Los Angeles, my son has just fallen asleep and Rain is watching ‘This Is It’ beside me on the movie screen. 9 hours down, 26 more to go. I am surprisingly feeling great. It’s quite an amazing office in flight that I’ve set up, lap top open, full service, no one can walk in, and no phones are ringing… A rare and unique opportunity for me to write.
I have so much to share about my trip to South Africa. First , what I almost passed on because of the anxiety of traveling with my two youngest on such a long flight turned out to be a once in a lifetime experience. I am so happy that I my adventurous spirit has rubbed off on my children. They were absolutely amazing. Many would think that a journey so long would be a nightmare. I suppose it could be with that sort of attitude. Not only did we rough it one night on an animal reserve, sleep in a tent – with no water but a stand alone sink to wash ones hands – I also took my children on a Safari. I have been dreaming of such a trip for many years and originally was waiting untill Neriah and Sierra were old enough to appreciate it. Then I had Rain and Shaya and thought I would continue to wait until they were a “suitable” age. Because David is there working on a TV show, off we went and I realized that the tender age of 2 and 3 was absolutely perfect!
We saw it all! My great camera crapped out last minute, what are the chances of that? But here are a few pics that I managed.
My son has been watching Racing Stripes (the story of a zebra who thinks he is a race horse) and was in total shock to see the wild Zebra roaming in front of him. His only frustration was that he could not ride one. His new name for his stuffed African zebra is Racing…
Check out these pics of a mama and baby elephant. We observed for less than 10 minutes when she began to walk slowly towards our jeep. We slowly backed up, but as her stride picked up, we realized that she had had enough and wanted to be left alone. I thought about the days I’ve being swarmed by paparazzi, photographed with my children, and followed. I totally felt her pain, and gladly left. The others I believe just wanted to get the heck out of there before she charged!
I do not know how or IF I will ever visit the zoo with my children again. Something about the cages has always made me sad. Now having seeing life in its natural habitat brings a whole new appreciation to the animal kingdom for my family.
One of my most exciting animal experiences was on the farm at David’s film set. There lives a 1 yr old male baby giraffe that they bottle-feed twice a day. We were able to pet and interact with him. It was incredible! I wish I was able to capture those moments on film, but because of the discretion of production, no cameras were allowed. I also wish I could have captured the hand size beetles, mice, and helicopter-like bugs flying around, because my mother would NEVER believe that I survived it. Not to mention the walk to the outhouse at night, in the dark, praying I didn’t face a creepy crawly. As soon as I got over my bug issues (first time for me!) I was totally fascinated by this different slice of life. There was also a complete transformation of self that was taking place on the farm. I will share more later. I still need to digest it.
Both kids are asleep now, so I better join them and rest up for the next leg of my journey.
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