Tales of the Traveling Totes Love On Safari

Welcome to our December 2019 edition of

Tales of the Traveling Totes, where ladies 

from across the United States bring their 

lovely, and famous MacKenzie-Childs totes 

along with them on adventures, and then share 

those adventures with you, our readers.  

Miss Madi K and I had our biggest adventure yet  

as we traveled to South Africa on a safari at
Kruger National Park.  

If you can make it through my long post, you will 

find a fun MacKenzie Child's giveaway!

Hubby and I, and my Lunch Bunch girlfriends are 

fans of Hallmark Movies (love how upbeat and clean 

they are).  In the summer of 2018 I watched one of 

their movies, Love on Safari, 

starring Lacey Chabert and Jon Cor. 

 I had never wanted to go on a safari 

(maybe because of the distance on the airplane) 

but after watching the movie, I decided I wanted to go. 

On my birthday in January, hubby and I decided to book 

tickets, and we texted all of our friends and invited them. 

The travel agency had warned us that the trip would 

be booked out by the end of the week, so we told our 

friends that.  They all booked within a day, so no one 

missed out!!!

As part of my birthday present, hubby and I upgraded 

to "Upper Class" - the lie down beds on Virgin Atlantic 

Airlines.  We figured we would never do this adventure 

again, and so we were going to make this extra special.  

Part of the fun of the Upper Class experience is getting 

to go into their airport lounges.  We flew from LA to 

London, so of course in London we had to order their 

afternoon tea.  Oh, how I wished I could have had 

one of these fun tea tables to take home with me! 

None of us had ever experienced an airline lounge like this! 

It was a great start to the trip. 

After another 10 hour flight we landed in Johannesburg, 

South Africa, and walked straight to our hotel.

It was a beautiful hotel with wonderful food. 

After a quick nap we took an optional tour of 

Johannesburg.

 The whole country was in bloom with the gorgeous 

Jacaranda trees everywhere!

  We had a beautiful SA guide, Adele, who 

grew up on a cattle ranch outside of Johannesburg.  You 

could tell how much she loves her country and desires hope 

for its future.  They still have a long ways to go, and she said 

most of their young people don't see a future in South Africa, 

so they are leaving.  It was fascinating to learn more of the 

history of SA and its struggles.

 As many of us were members of 

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints, 

we stopped to see the LDS Temple there.  

Of course we were curious as to what the 

food would be like in South Africa.  Our tour 

operator assured us that the food would all 

be very familiar, and it definitely was for most 

of the trip.  I asked my friend who had taken this 

safari about the food, as our whole group was 

curious.  She didn't have any pictures, so I made 

sure to get pictures - as if I wouldn't!! Haha!

This hotel was attached to a mall, so after dinner we 

headed over for some ice cream, and the three on the right

 hadn't brought a hat for the safari, so they got some 

fun ones at the mall.

The next morning after a wonderful buffet breakfast 

we headed to the Lesedi Cultural Village where four 

different tribes are represented, featuring their traditional 

homes and dances and customs.  This was a really fun 

experience. 

Bugs, anyone?

We weren't scheduled to eat at the village, but our 

bus broke down, so here we had the opportunity 

to try our most unusual dishes - of course, I gave 

each one a taste - ostrich and crocodile.  They are both 

very mild and tender white meat.

Then we were off on a long bus ride moving us 

more toward Kruger Park to Hazyview, South Africa. 

We stayed in a lovely resort along the river there.

Our breakfast and dinner were included and came 

from a restaurant right next to the resort.  There 

was so much to choose from.  I had shrimp curry, 

but tried a Kudu steak, which was so tender.  

Everything here was so delicious, and the presentation 

was beautiful.  This was their Creme Brulee. 

They even had an outdoor shower.

Miss Madi K really had a great time here.  Actually, 

she never got left behind, so she loved it all!

She was really attracted to the reception room of the resort. 

We made sure that we had time for the pool. 

And we found out that in South Africa, you always 

order the hot Chocolate!  

Here we got to go to an Elephant Sanctuary, where we 

got up close and personal with the elephants.  They are 

such magnificent animals. 

We traveled up to the God's Window area to see 

Blyde River Canyon, which is one of the largest 

canyons on Earth. 

Miss Madi K and all of the girls 

were quite impressed with this wonder of nature.

Then we were finally off to Skukuza Rest Camp at Kruger Park.

Miss Madi K couldn't believe we had finally made it!  

Although we loved all of the rest of South Africa, this 

was what we were most excited about - our safari!!!

Our stay here was in little private bungalows, 

which were charming.

I loved the thatched roofs.  They were air conditioned 

bungalows, so they were very comfortable.

There was also a private bathroom, minimalistic, 

but you were right in the park.

Did you know South Africa is one of the world's big 

producers of macadamia nuts?  I didn't.  They were 

the best tasting macadamia nuts I have ever had. 

(Even my Courtly Check cup got to make the trip to SA.)

They had a little outdoor kitchen, which was fun so we 

could keep cold drinks in the fridge.  Many people "camp" 

here and cook in the outdoor kitchen. 

We had lunch at the restaurant that day and ordered 

off the menu.  It was delicious.  

The restaurant sits right along the river, so 

you can spend afternoons watching the animals 

down in the water, 

or at the spa, where you can get a very nice, but 

inexpensive massage, 

or cool off in the pool.  

Adjacent to the restaurant is the most wonderful store, 

with souvenirs, fresh fruits, meats and cheeses, drinks, 

and just about anything you might want or need.

Then we were off on our first safari. 

Every day we had two safaris - one early in the morning, about 

5:15, and one in the afternoon, about 3:00.  It wasn't hard getting 

up that early, because you are a little messed up on time anyhow.

Even though the weather was in the upper 60's in 

the mornings, Miss Madi K came in handy bringing 

my blanket and a coat.  She fit in nicely on the floor 

by my feet.

Then the fun began!  

I thought the elephants would be my favorites, 

but although they were wonderful, I fell in love 

with the zebras! We saw whole herds of them playing 

and nipping each other and running along the road, 

and then crossing the road.  

Of course, what you want to see 

in South Africa is the Big Five, and we saw all of them - 

Lions

Leopards

Rhinos

Elephants

Cape Buffalos

The Rhino was the most elusive, but then we came 

to a crossroad, and our driver said, "Rhinos mating!" 

He said he hadn't seen that for 3 years.  None of the 

other jeeps in our group believed it, until they saw 

the photos.

Kudu

The giraffes were majestic, and they often crossed the 

road to so we got to see them up close and personal.

I had brought my nice Canon and zoom lens, but our 

tour guide from the US, Howy, had a $5,000 Nikon with 

a 500 mm lens, so all of these fabulous photos are from 

him.  Since he was sharing his photos with us, I 

switched to mostly videos, because that captured the 

trip more than stills.  I would send them home to the kids 

and the grandkids every day to see them.  My oldest daughter 

and her husband are going on this same tour in February with 

her MIL, so she was so excited to see what it would be like. 

You can go to my Instagram to see more videos.  

Our last drive of the three days we saw hundreds 

of elephants.  They just poured across the road.  

I had the idea that we should all buy African kaftans 

and shirts for the men so we could get a fun photo.

The men were pretty good to go along with it.

We wore these on our last day, which happened to 

be a heat wave - 110 -112!  They were the perfect 

outfits to have on, as they allowed the breeze up 

inside as you drove.

That day they drove us out to the bush to have breakfast, 

so we took our group photo out behind the breakfast area. 

Don't worry, it was all fenced in so we were safe.

Of course, you know me, I want to include a tablescape if I 

can, as I always appreciate the tables others put together for us.  

It was a beautiful setting and a lovely breakfast, but so hot.

Because of the heat, many of our group opted out of 

the afternoon drive, but the weather changed, 

and the animals came out in record numbers.  You can see 

that I had to get my MC umbrella out, and it kept 

Miss Madi K and I dry!  

We were also treated to a candle light BBQ dinner 

at the Skukuza.

That was delicious.

I had to include the buffet breakfast at Skukuza.  

It was unusual, with Pap - a white polenta with a 

tomato sauce to put over (traditional South African food),

 baked beans and grilled 

tomatoes (very English), mushrooms, and meats and 

of course some pancakes.  Pap was always served at 

dinner too on the Skukuza buffet, but you could also 

order off of the menu.  

Yes, I too fell in Love On Safari!!

What a trip!  It wasn't even on my bucket list, but I 

would definitely return again.  There is nothing like 

seeing such masses of these gorgeous animals in 

their element.  

Now the surprise - 

You had to make it all the way through my long, long 

post to find out about the giveaway!

These tea towels are so cute!  I even have 

a set of my own that were gifted to me 

from Linda at Life and Linda, when I joined 

the TTT group!  You will love them.

Just visit Emily at 

The French Hut 

and enter to win.

Also visit the other members of our fun group 

and see where their totes have been off to!

Debbie with Miss Aurora @ Mountain Breaths 

Emily with Miss Courtney Childs@ The French Hutch

Jenna with Miss Coquille @The Painted Apron

Linda P with Miss Lola @ Life and Linda

Patti with Miss Kenzie @ Pandora's Box  You are here!

Rita with Miss Luna C @ Panoply 

Sarah with Miss Merri Mac @ Hyacinths for the Soul

Ricki Jill and Countess De Monet @ The Sketchy Reader

Cherry Kay and Carrie Ann Hall @ Entertaining Women  

I will also be posting this with 
Tablescapes Thursday
and
Love Your Creativity