Back from Safari!

After recently returning home from a simply unforgettable, one month trip to Tanzania, I am reminded, once again, that in no way do challenges have to limit our opportunities in life.

Despite the unfamiliar surroundings, unsettled terrain and unconventional transportation that I knew I was to encounter on this rare excursion, I did not let it stop me from participating, alongside my sighted travel partners, in all activities.

Boarding land rovers and twin engine pipers to reach our destinations, the safari took me from the jungle-like Lake Manyara to the endless plains of the Serengeti. We explored the depths of the Ngorongoro Crater and finally to tranquil Kwa Joni, where our accommodation was a grass shack in a remote area outside of Pangani, on the Indian Ocean. Along the way, we frequently encountered lions, leopards, cheetahs, elephants, water buffalo and baboons. This "once in a lifetime" trip is one I may not have experienced had I focused on the challenge, rather than the opportunity.

The one downfall to the trip was of course, being without my guide dog, Bizet, as I knew it best for him to remain at home with friends where he was saved the temptation of trying to make friends with the many predators, who may have mistaken him, a white standard poodle, for a sheep!