He was charging at us. I could feel the ground tremble as the six of us sat in silence and Chris, master tracking, guide, and our driver for the day faced off with the beast. I kept eyeing the shotgun wondering why Matt had not moved to grab it. My heart was pounding but I was too afraid to breathe. He came faster and raised his trunk then suddenly Chris turned on the car engine to a loud grumble and Matt waved a flashlight. The beast jumped onto it’s back legs in fright and ran away.

Relief quickly overcame me…but I kept thinking…yo, this elephant is a scardey-cat.

Matt turned to us with a smile and Chris drove away from the aggressive elephant. “See,” he said “that’s why they tell you not to get to close to the elephants.”

My husband and I booked our honeymoon through Scott Dunn and they had booked us a six night, seven day stay at andBeyond Exeter River Lodge which is now called Dulini River Lodge but is still under the andBeyond brand which is a leader in luxury.

Each room comes with a private plunge pool, suite, in door and out door shower, views of the drinking hole for animals, and your own personal Butler who eventually becomes your extended family while there. It’s not cheap but for a Honeymoon it’s perfect. It’s all inclusive and you get two game drives a day, which you can pay extra and opt to have private rides. They also offer the option of safari walks.

Everyday is perfect. During the game drive I saw the Big 5.

So what did I take with me to prepare for our safari?

Packing List

• 5 light color shirts: Green, Beige, Gray. 2 with longer sleeves.
• 1 light colored pant
• 2 pairs of Jeans
• 1 long lounge dress – while in the room I lounged around in it during the day
• 1 Safari pants – which was totally unnecessary. I could have just brought my jeans and pants
• 1 Safari skirt
• 1 sweatshirt- zip up. It’s cold in the morning and hot afterwards so it’s nice to bring something with you.
• 1 swimsuit.
• 1 large hat – Yes, bring it. I don’t care. You bring it. The sun will wear you out.
• 1 small day pack for water & snacks,
• Sunscreen (truthfully I bought it at the airport), Bug Spray (also bought at the airport), Malaria medicine (which I was told was optional since the area does is low risk – however, I’d recommend talking to your doctor. We didn’t take any).
• 1 pair of Boots & 1 pair of sandals.

Equipment:

• Canon EOS Rebel t5i
• Lens: 18mm to 300mm
• Lens: 500mm
• Lens Extender – Never used it
• Tripod – used it a lot

Stay away from:

• Don’t wear white because it will get dirty
• Don’t wear blue because the flies will bite you
• Don’t wear loud colors like red, orange, etc because it will scare away the animals – yes, even the lions
• Don’t be impatient. Half the beauty of the safari is waiting and watching nature all around you.

Tips:

• Question: Are there spiders?
• Answer: Yes, there are spiders but in your room they leave the air conditioning on all night which gets rid of most of the bugs. Issue: Spiders don’t care. So if you are like me and a slight arachnophobe being on Safari may be something you’d have to get use to. But when faced with those 8 leg creatures who frankly scare me more than lions or charging elephants, my husband killed them or the butler picked them up and put them outside, or the guide picked them up and put them outside. By the end of the trip, I got over my fear a bit and decided my husband was my spider killing hero.

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