Lost in Transit

I have been away from my blogging post for a little bit, and feel creatively refreshed and rejuvenated for the break!  I will explain.

We have been to ... Africa!  Yes, ... not my usual Parisian jaunt, ... but a 'year-long-awaited' family trip to stay at some beautiful places in the heart of Kruger National Park.

Plans were made as an extended family more than a year ago, when my youngest was about to turn 6, and it was with some trepidation that I packed myself and our little family off to South Africa, imagining I was sending them to be lion snacks!

Our first 'encounter' in the 'wilds of Africa' did have us shaking in our boots with nine female adult elephants and as many of their offspring walking around our vehicle, crashing saplings and trees around us to strip for the bark underneath!

But by the end of our trip we were used to lions and leopards, hyenas and rhinoceri and knew we were indeed quite quite safe as long as we witnessed this wild spectacle from the confines of the vehicle.  Although there was one heart-pounding incident where a leopard leapt in the air from the bushes - like 'firing a shot over the bow' - because we had stayed too close for too long!

Of course, with my vintage hunters eyes, the 'traditional colonial' style in the safari camps, just made this the most wonderful all round experience for me!  I will post tomorrow about the gorgeous touches of where we stayed!

We were so much in constant awe of our surroundings, from the majestic and towering elephants and giraffes to the precious moments of stillness.

Once, we stopped the vehicle in the last rays of the setting sun, and sat in silence as we saw a family of the tiniest of creatures, the dwarf mongooses, scampering around before they went into their burrow for the night.

And watched the vicious hyena, being so tender and relaxed with her brood of babies, basking in the afternoon sun in front of her den.

With dawn and sundown safaris, multiple small planes and long-haul flights - and the visual overload of  everything around us being so new, from food, to scenery, to accommodation, to animals, to accents - it has taken me a little time to recover!

But what an experience ... we would not have missed it for anything!

I will post more tomorrow of the lovely vintage touches just everywhere around the camps.

Jennifer.

x