Safari Story.
Greetings Ladies and Gents,
It feels like it's been so long since I've spoken to you all, but it's really only been about a month or so. We're good! So I was thinking we'd mix things up this time around and look at things from a different perspective. I had the pleasure of traveling to South Africa for 2 weeks with my family in early July, and let me just say I'm still in awe of it all. From the people to the culture and the landscape, I can honestly say it surpassed even my high expectations for it. For this particular post, I'm going to focus on my favorite part of the trip, the safaris!
To give some quick background, the safari rides would go like this. We'd wake up around 5:30ish in the morning and head out for the first rides by 6:30 am. That safari would last about 3 hours. Then we would go on our second ride of the day around 4:30 pm and that'd last until 7 pm. The main purpose of having the rides happen at different times was to increase our chances of seeing specific wildlife that may only be out and about at certain times of day/night. We'd come across several unique animals on our trips through the wild, however of course there were select few that we were looking forward to catching glimpses of the most.
After having a couple of weeks to reflect since I left Africa, I realize what those safari rides taught me the most is that you come across the greatest of experiences when you least expect it. I remember during one of our sessions, we were getting anxious to see some rhinos because we'd been out at least 4 times already and hadn't seen any yet. They're a big animal, so you'd think they wouldn't be as tough to find as they were! Right when we were starting to let it go and just enjoy the searches for what they were, we came across a few rhinos. It was so crazy, seeing them literally 20-30 feet away from our jeep, and they even gave us some great pic/vid opportunities.
A second animal we were more than ready to meet were the elephants, and they took just as much patience to find. We had been tracking them for a few days and always felt like we were one step behind their travels. Then we drove down one of the dirt roads and next thing we know there's a few female elephants along with a couple babies not far behind them. Now this was probably the highlight of my trip because these beautiful creatures, as huge as they were, walked right on by our vehicle as if we weren't even there and went about their daily business of finding food and tending to their young. It was just unreal to see them in their natural habitats instead of a zoo or circus. There's really no comparison, honestly.
I say all this to make the point that whether it's a job, relationships or self growth in general you may be right in the vicinity that you need to be in. All that you need to do is be aware of your surroundings while also practicing patience. We had no idea what we'd run into on those safari rides, but being in the area we needed to be in along with the proper preparation had us ready for whatever may have come our way, and great things did come our way!
It has always felt like the best things in my life have come across my path right when I wasn't looking for them. Of course faith plays a factor here so that has to be strong, and that may take time. As long as you put yourself in the areas where greatness can potentially be realized, you're going to see it right in front of you sooner than later. You wake up and keep your eyes ready for what may come your way, and in the meantime you enjoy the ride and the beauty of what's already around you.
