Quote of the Week: Denise Cross

I had the best and most amazing time that I’ve ever had in my entire life. I loved each and every minute of the trip and I felt so happy and content and peaceful the entire time I was there. I’m sure you hear some people say that it was “life-changing” and I have to agree that it certainly was that way for me. I hated to leave and I can’t wait to go back.

Thank you so much…to you and Africa Dream Safari’s for doing a wonderful job planning my trip of a life time!!! I have nothing but positive things to say about how great everything was. The people were lovely and everything went so smoothly….it was effortless for us and we just sat back and enjoyed every minute of every day. Our guide was very friendly and easy-going and we hit it off right away. He was fun and liked to joke around, which was great, but he was also good at doing his best to answer any questions that we had. He was a good guide and I enjoyed spending time with him every day.

On our very first day we were fortunate enough to witness the migration of the wildebeest and then we proceeded to see so many other animals that we thought that it couldn’t get any better than that!! But, every day we were amazed at how special each day was and how every day was the “best” day in it’s own special way. I loved Buffalo Springs and all of the wonderful people there. It was a gorgeous location and the tents and lodge were amazing….so beautiful! And I was so happy that we had a chance at doing the night drive…..that was special and different and, as an added bonus, we got to spend some more time with Sukato. When we went to his village the next day he invited us into his boma to meet his wife and new baby…….that was an amazing experience that I will cherish for the rest of my life. We took tons of pictures of the children and it brings a lot of joy just to look at them and see the smiles on their faces as we showed them their own pictures….they giggled and laughed….it was great!!!

I LOVED classic camping….I found it to be thrilling and wonderful and peaceful and all things good! On one of the nights there I heard a lion roar/grunt numerous times and that same night I unzipped my tent just enough to stick my head and shoulders out with my flashlight and, about 30 or 40 feet in front of me I saw 5 or 6 sets of hyena eyes starring back at me…..it was sooooooo exciting! The staff was great and we got a great tour of the chef’s kitchen…the food was delicious!

While in the Crater, we were fortunate enough to see (from a distance) 3 Black Rhinos…..that was very exciting! And, I was thrilled when, on our last day of Safari, we saw over 400 elephants……it was amazing! Overall, we saw lots of lions, about 5 leopards, and 2 cheetah. We saw so many animals every single day that I just couldn’t believe it. And, I couldn’t believe how close we got to them…..we were right beside so many of them….the lions, a leopard, hyena, ostrich, baboons, monkeys, elephants, zebra, wildebeest, etc, etc, etc……my mind is still trying to process all of it. It was the most amazing experience of my entire life and I felt so happy while I was there.

Denise Cross
September 2010

A young lion cub acting especially brave towards his older (and much bigger) brother.

 

The smiling faces of native Maasai children.