The Hardest Part

The hardest part of any great trip isn’t getting there. It’s leaving.

After seven unforgettable days split between South Africa and Zimbabwe, it was time to head home.

Victoria Falls Airport was a little different from many of the airports we’ve traveled through. There were no jet bridges leading directly to the aircraft at our gate. Instead, we walked across the tarmac toward our waiting plane. It felt oddly fitting. One last chance to stand beneath the African sky before climbing aboard.

The aircraft waiting for us was much smaller than the jets that had brought us there. My usual carry-on wouldn’t fit in the overhead compartment and had to be checked. Looking around the cabin, it felt less like boarding an international flight and more like climbing onto a flying shuttle bus.

The flight itself was only about two hours back to Johannesburg.

After that came the long haul. Seventeen hours to Atlanta. Another flight to Tampa.

Layovers. Security lines. Airports. Oceans.

Traveling to Africa had taken time.

Leaving it would take even longer. And somewhere over the Atlantic, as the miles passed beneath us, I found myself replaying the previous week.

Looking Back

Looking back on this trip, I don’t think I fully understood what “going to Africa” meant when we first signed up.

Sure, we knew there would be safaris. We knew there would be wildlife. We did our research. We watched videos. We looked at photographs.

But none of that prepared us for actually being there.

The sheer variety of animals was incredible. The scenery was stunning. The people were welcoming. The moments shared with fellow travelers became just as memorable as many of the places we visited.

And then there were the things we learned.

At the elephant sanctuary, we learned about elephant behavior and conservation. On game drives, we learned about hippos, rhinos, lions, and the famous Big Five. Our guides taught us how to read tracks, understand animal behavior, and notice details in the bush that most visitors would never spot on their own.

Long before this trip, Star Trek introduced me to the Vulcan concept of Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations. The idea that strength comes from our differences rather than our similarities. Standing in Africa, surrounded by people from different countries, cultures, and backgrounds, I found myself thinking about that philosophy more than once.

We arrived with knowledge, we left with perspective.

One of the biggest surprises was the soundtrack of Africa. People often talk about the sights. Not nearly enough talk about the sounds. The calls of birds, the grunts of hippos, animals moving through brush, the roar of Victoria Falls, the sounds around camp after dark.

Even the silence wasn’t truly silent. It was alive. Africa has its own song, and everywhere we went, every place we visited seemed to add another verse.

Favorite Moments

People often ask what my favorite part of the trip was.

Honestly, I don’t think I can pick just one.

The first giraffe sighting is certainly near the top of the list. There’s something surreal about driving down a road and suddenly seeing a giraffe standing there, completely unconcerned by your presence, as if this is the most normal thing in the world.

Watching our guides work to position us for better views of lions was another memorable experience. We spent several drives searching for wildlife, always wondering what might be waiting around the next corner.

And then there was the leopard. For us, it was that elusive spotted cat that somehow managed to avoid us despite everyone’s best efforts.

The hippos were fascinating. Watching them in the rivers and later seeing them on land gave me a completely different appreciation for an animal I previously knew very little about.

The sunrises and sunsets were unforgettable. And then there was the night sky.

As I’ve written before, what my camera captured and what I experienced were not exactly the same thing. The photograph is beautiful, but when I look at it, my memory fills in the rest. The stars seemed brighter. The sky seemed larger. The experience was richer than any image could fully capture.

Pictures help us remember, as does this blog; the memory does the rest. It may not be perfect. Memory does stem from one’s perspective. Something I or my wife saw may be different from what others say, and that is okay.

Some of my favorite moments weren’t about wildlife at all. They were the evenings around the fire. The stories, the laughter, the conversations, the simple act of spending time with people who had been strangers only days before.

And then there was Victoria Falls itself.

No photograph, video, or documentary can truly prepare you for standing there in person. Feeling the mist. Hearing the thunder. Watching one of the great natural wonders of the world with your own eyes.

That is something a screen simply cannot replicate.

The People We Meet Along the Way

One of the unexpected gifts of travel is the people. Travel has a way of bringing together strangers who might never have crossed paths otherwise. Different backgrounds. Different careers. Different life experiences. Yet for a brief period of time, everyone shares the same adventure.

Some of those connections are fleeting. Others last.

I still occasionally exchange messages with our guide from Japan. Since returning from Africa, I’ve also reached out to Bheki from The Baines Restaurant and chatted with a few of our fellow travelers while putting together this series. Sometimes it’s to share photographs. Sometimes it’s to verify a detail I’ve forgotten. Sometimes it’s simply to say hello.

Technology makes those connections easier than ever. A WhatsApp message can reconnect people separated by continents and oceans.

And, not every connection lasts forever, but…some do. And even the brief ones become part of the journey.

One Final Thought

If there is one lesson I would leave you with after reading this series, it is this:

If there is someplace you want to go… Go.

If there is something you want to see… See it.

If there is a destination sitting quietly on your bucket list, waiting for “someday,” stop waiting for someday. Start planning.

Maybe you’ll win a charity auction like we did.

Maybe you’ll work with a travel agent (I know several).

Maybe you’ll spend months researching and planning every detail yourself.

It doesn’t matter how you get there,  what matters is that you go.

People spend a lot of time waiting for the perfect moment. The perfect amount of money. The perfect schedule. The perfect circumstances.

The truth is that perfect rarely arrives.

There will always be another bill, another responsibility, another reason (excuse) to wait.

That doesn’t mean you should be reckless. It means you should make the plan.

Save the money. Set the date. Then go.

Sometimes that trip will be simple.

Sometimes it will be luxurious.

I’ve stayed in modest hotels, family-run inns, traditional bed and breakfasts, resorts, and safari lodges. The accommodations matter less than the experience.

What matters is seeing the world for yourself.

Because every destination teaches something. A new culture. A new perspective. A new story. A new appreciation for the people who share this planet with us.

Travel reminds us that the world is both larger and more connected than we often imagine. And that’s a lesson worth learning.

Africa gave us elephants, lions, hippos, stars, waterfalls, and stories.

It gave us early mornings and late nights. Campfires and river cruises. New friendships and unforgettable encounters.

It reminded us that adventure still exists. It reminded us that wonder still exists. And it reminded us that the world is far larger, and far more beautiful, than the small corner of it we call home.

But like most great journeys, the thing we brought home wasn’t something that fit in a suitcase.

It was perspective. 

And perhaps that’s the best souvenir of all.