This was our second full day on safari!
As I've told people since we've been back, this trip was the rare combination of both the greatest adventure you'll ever have - seeing wild animals interract in their natural habitat right before your eyes - and the most indulgent, relaxing treat of a vacation.
Our guide called us at 6 am and we were dressed in all the layers and walking over to the main lodge to eat our breakfast snacks. Today's gluten-free muffin was some sort of cinnamon cake concoction that I would give a lot to be eating again right now.
We headed out with our guide, hoping to find a leopard for the kids or any other kind of big cat, but also just happy to see any of these amazing animals we had fallen in love with.
And we found a cheetah! Two cheetahs! Brothers, per our guide.
They were mostly just relaxing in the sunshine, but we did get to see them move positions.
I loved all the animals, but watching the big cats slink around their world really was incredible.
We came across a big herd of zebras, with lots of little ones.
Cheese!
Rhinos! I love them too. They always reminded me a little of Maggie. Something about their stalwart charm.
We stopped for our mid-morning-drive snack with hot tea, hot chocolate, and gluten-free goodies for me.
Hello Mr. Wildebeest
Once back at the lodge it was time for the big breakfast.
And then just some relaxation time (and/or lunch, which obviously my whole family ate all of 90 minutes after brunch but I skipped). I was going to work, but then just read and also took a little nap and it was lovely.
Some monkeys ran across my view at one point and the warthog mom and baby came by as well.
Then it was high tea, with more snacks (including mini gluten-free pizzas!), and then we were off for our afternoon safari, our final ride in Marakele National Park!
And we came across so many elephants!
Including these big bulls.
Love!!
I just remember really enjoying watching everything around us.
Then it time for sundowners!
I took so many pictures of animals that it's easy to miss that the surrounding views were absolutely stunning. Plateaus and mountains and lakes and sunsets... just gorgeous.
My peeps! Just as I truly can't overstate the animals and the views, I can't say enough how incredible it was to share all this with our kids. They were so fun- so interested and curious and delighted to be there... we didn't get to do much traveling in our 20's since we were both getting degrees and started our family so young, but man has it been wonderful to make up for it in our 40's!
Having them with us truly made it so much better- we spotted more animals, got to listen to our guide answer questions we might not have asked, loved recapping our day and laughing over dinner... I'm so thankful we were able to do this together.
The sun was quickly setting, but we spotted quite a few animals on the dark drive back to the lodge.
We had a great dinner by a roaring fireplace and then got to our canvas castle to discover a romantic little set up for our anniversary which was very sweet.
Cheers to 20 years!! Celebrating surrounded by elephants and rhinos, with our three grown kids in their own canvas castle... I can't imagine anything better.
(long time reader, first time commentator)
ReplyDeleteSomething I talk a lot about with my sister-in-law who is also raising three older kids is how to provide them with all these wonderful and experiences and opportunities while making sure they remain grounded, grateful, and aware of the immense privileges that they have. I'd love to hear more from you about this tricky subject!
Such a good question and I don't really know the answer. I can tell you what we do, with the major caveat that we live in a privileged area and their friends generally have what we have and more, and so do my parents now (though they did not when I was younger) so I sometimes struggle more with ensuring they have perspective on their comps than I do with what we actually give/provide. But some of what we do/try to do, in no particular order:
DeleteWe involve the kids in the trip planning, they know how much it costs, and they know we have a separate savings that we put money into every month to fund our travels. They also know that because of a big trip like South Africa, we will not be taking any for the next year (i.e., this trip was a BIG deal).
We talk frequently throughout the trip about how excited we are to be there, how lucky we are to experience these things, etc. I first left the US when I was 21 and a junior in college because I got a travel grant for my thesis research. Their lives are different and I don't know how grounded I can keep them, but I can at least make them aware.
They know we prefer 1-2 big trips a year v. smaller more frequent trips or more regular indulgences. Claire has friends whose parents pay for everything they do - daily Starbucks on the way to school, getting nails done, shopping at the mall, etc. They do tons of weekend activities that are pricey, etc. I do not pay for those things, her babysitting money does or she doesn't do them. (Not at all implying that forgoing Starbucks gets you to South Africa, just that we make choices in how we use our "extra" and this is how we, the parents who earn the money, choose to spend it.)
We talk pretty openly about what her dad made when we first got married (less than our SA trip cost) and how we strictly we budgeted when I was in law school and how lucky we are to have the increased financial freedom we have now. But we also have it because we lived within our means all of those years, had no credit card debt, and paid off my student loans. Again, all within privilege, but reminding the kids that they're living a different chapter of our lives with us than we lived at the start when I called James crying when I realized what a suit cost when I needed one for my first law school summer associate interview.
We don't say yes to many extras on the trips. We don't buy them souvenirs, we don't buy lots of treats... being there is the treat and they are so lucky to see and experience what they do.
The kids have a ton of chores at home (dishes, dishwasher, laundry, vacuuming, etc), they earn allowance, they have to pay for almost anything they do that is "extra" (i.e., if dinner is being made at home, we are not paying for anyone to eat it anywhere else), and if there's nothing else we're doing right, they really are an amazing and helpful part of our "team".
Do they fully understand their privilege? Probably not. But I do think they are relatively grounded, they are grateful and express it often, and they are at least somewhat aware? I don't know, it's weird to be able to raise your kids differently than you were raised, especially when you were raised great, but you also want to take nice vacations with your favorite people. It's something I think about a lot.