What Can You Take Off Your Bucket List?

“A safari is the stuff of bucket lists.” I heard this often. I’m so grateful to have crossed this off my own list just this month. It was something I spoke about doing one day, in the future, someday, perhaps. We all have grand plans in the form of wishes.  My safari to Kenya — Amboseli and Masai Mara — took real shape once I saw Wild Eye Safari photographs on Instagram a year ago. I wrote a blog post about that, I’m On Safari And I Owe it All To Instagram.

Do you have a wish that you would like to turn into a beautiful memory?

Five suggestions for making your dreams come true (these helped me!):

• Put the big thing you wish to do into your consciousness. Be intentional. Visualize it happening.
• Set a date. Commit. Tell your tribe you are doing it. Create a vision board. Write it out.
• Savor the planning, experience.
• Meet and learn from the experts. Ask questions. Where do you look for inspiration?
• And then once your dream has been manifested, what’s your next big thing?

I have included some images from my recent African safari. I’ll be putting up additional images from time to time. And just know….I am planning another trip with Wild Eye, this time a safari by foot.

Acacia tree in Amboseli.

When I saw photographs from Kenya, Amboseli in particular, I always saw this Acacia tree. I envisioned the Acacia tree in storms. With a giraffe beneath it. From a hot air balloon. And now I saw it in person. It was the first thing I saw when my plane arrived in Amboseli from Nairobi. I know it probably sounds silly, but I may have noticed trees in Africa more than I did in the USA.

The Great Migration in Masai Mara: A wildebeest crossing, one of the most compelling reasons for me to go in September.

Prior to the safari I had heard so much about wildebeest crossings. Thankfully I had the Canon EF 200-400mm lens (eight pounds!) with me and many expert photographers from Wild Eye (thank you Morkel and Marlon) to tell me how to set the camera properly. My adrenaline was rushing to be honest. One of the best days in the bush.

The Amboseli elephant.

I was in heaven photographing the elephants. I was off the plane for just a few hours and asked the guide to come to a screeching halt so I could take this photo. I later saw the babies, my heart melted.

Zebra at play, rolling around in the dirt.

My very first giraffe sighting in Amboseli as I landed at the air strip.

Amboseli.

Underground streams from Mount Kilimanjaro help these marshes and grasslands stay wet…drawing elephants.

Zebra crossing the road in Amboseli.

Most images of my African safari are taken with my Canon EOS 5D MarkIII and the Canon EOS 7D. I used the Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Lens, Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 IS USM Telephoto Zoom lens and the Canon EF 24-105mm lens.

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