Lauren Termini Photography: Safari: Part 1 of 2

We arrived back to America early Saturday morning after over 24 hours of travel. Coming home after any vacation is hard and I feel like I slip into a mini-depression, but returning after this adventure was extra tough. We had one of the best vacations we've ever had as a family. It was such a cool experience all around and I cannot thank my dad enough for planning and executing the trip. Well done, dad.

I apologize for how long it took me to edit and post pictures from our experience on safari. We were lucky enough to see SO many animals and to say I went picture crazy is an understatement. Not only were we able to see so many amazing exotic animals, we also witnessed some of the most beautiful, jaw dropping sunsets I've ever seen! In all honesty, I had a hard time narrowing it down to my absolute favorites, so this post will come in two parts. I don't even feel like the pictures do the experience justice, but it's the best I can do. You'll just have to make it to South Africa and check it out for yourselves...

As we were sitting in the Johannesburg airport waiting for our flight to JFK, my family and I reminisced about our trip and we collectively decided that the safari was by far our favorite part. The lodge, the people (especially our guide and tracker), the food and the animals... all of it was incredible and really created amazing memories for us. So without further ado...

We arrived around 2pm to Tintswalo Safari Lodge. As taken from the website, Tintswalo, "in the native Shangaan language means, "the intangible feeling of love, gratitude and peace bestowed upon someone offering you a meaningful and worthy gift." Fitting.

The lodge is located within Kruger National Park and the park as a whole is the size of the state of Rhode Island. It is surrounded by an electric fence to keep the wild animals out of towns and villages. With that said, it is nothing like a zoo. It is 100% African bush and wildlife carries on like normal. In some cases, the fencing helps decrease poaching, but unfortunately not always. We were lucky enough to see four white rhino on our stay and for those of you who don't know, they are severely endangered due to poaching, it's a miracle we stumbled across the ones we did.

Every day at the lodge, lunch was served tapas style from 2:00-3:30. You'd find the table of food in a different room of the lodge every day. On the day we arrived, it happened to be set up in the wine cellar. Tintswalo only holds around 10-15 guests at a time, so your experience with the other guests and the staff is on a personal, first name basis. In some cases you have meals together, and they split guests up among safari jeeps, and you're with them the entirety of your stay. Our first few drives we shared with a lovely South African couple.

Each of the suites are named after a different explorer. The room Alyssa and I shared was the Kingsley suite, after Mary Kingsley. The decor throughout the room, mirrored her and the exploration work she accomplished.

After a quick lunch, 3:30pm rolled around and it was time to hop in the jeep for our first game drive. They referred to the evening drive as "the sundowner drive". There are two drives a day, one from around 6:00am-9:30am, and the second is from about 3:30pm-7:00pm. In between the drives you can relax, read in the library, visit the spa, etc.

Within the first 10 minutes of being in the car, we happened upon this leopard and HOLY CRAP, all I kept thinking is, "we are 10 feet from a leopard!" You'll see in later pictures, our jeep was completely open to the elements... no roof, no windows.

The trackers sat over the front left headlight and were constantly on the lookout for footprints and game. On the right is the other groups tracker, Eric. On occasion, they'd hop off the car to follow prints and we'd pick them up later.

We were told going into the safari that not everybody is lucky enough to see The Big Five. The five includes the African lion, African elephant, Cape buffalo, African leopard and the white/black rhino. So as you'll see, in the first twenty minutes of our first ever game drive, we saw THREE of the five! This happened to be the only buffalo we saw, and he didn't move much, he was actually hurt. In the end, we saw the Magnificent Seven (no, not the 1996 women's US gymnastics team) which is The Big Five, plus the endangered wild dog and cheetah, plus much more!

Later into the first drive, we revisited the sleeping leopard from the beginning of the evening and he was not sleeping anymore! I cannot take credit for this photograph. It was taken by A.K., our game driver, who happens to be an amateur photographer. I didn't have a clear shot of this beautiful animal, so I passed my camera to him and he snapped this amazing picture. Crazy, right!?

Every evening during the sundowner drive, the guide and tracker would stop at a random location in the bush to set up a table with drinks and appetizers. On our first evening, we were lucky enough to enjoy a bonfire under the stars with all the other guests staying at the lodge.

Our dinner on night one was also shared with everyone at the lodge in a beautiful setting outside. It was complete with traditional South African dishes, wine and dancing.

Every morning your guide gives a wake up call to your room at either 5:30am or 6:00am. Once you're all layered up (it's very cold in the mornings), you make your way to the main lodge. All the pathways are a raised deck and if it's dark out, you must call for an escort. Remember, many animals hunt in the dark!