Eye of the Lion.

Oh, hey there.
Well this is a little awkward.
It's been over a month since I checked in over here...

But, as you probably saw on my last post, I've been busy. Really busy.
I also still have Valentine's decorations up. And Olympics decorations.

But I have been adventuring. So much adventuring.

South Africa. Carmel. And next stop, Arizona.
It's been a really fun month (okay...at this point it's been two).

South Africa was a trip of a LIFETIME.

I have traveled in 19 countries now, and my South African Adventure may have topped the charts.

I swam with sharks.
I pet a lion.
I rode a hippo. (okay that's a lie)
And then I spotted a lion in the wild, while on Safari (or as the locals call it, a Game Drive).

In fact everyone was hanging out the right side of our truck, while I looked to my left and saw a lion settling itself down into the shade, I called out to our guide, "Um...I think that's a lion right there." And immediately after I spotted a lion on the left side of our vehicle, our guide spotted another on the right. Hidden in the grass, breathing deeply with a belly full of wildebeest (its liver and carcass right next to us). There were also two more lionesses we would encounter up ahead.

As the lion peeked through at us, I could see the beautiful colors of its mane blending with the tall grasses, and it's beautiful and clear amber eye watching us without any movement.

This moment had been worth all the annoyance of hauling my big camera, all the big clunky lenses and accessories halfway across the globe.

I sat in the back row of our land cruiser, zoom lens on the camera, and manually focused my shot until just the ring of his eye was in focus, and I snapped.

Hands down, this was my favorite picture of the trip.

I had my camera out a lot, everywhere we went. Both my Nikon and my iPhone, and sometimes my dad's GoPro. Because my motto for vacation is, "when all is said and done, all you take home are the memories and the photos".

I'm a firm believer of stopping to capture the moment, especially when traveling.

One of the fun parts too was that Easy Canvas Prints offered me an 8x10 canvas of one of my photographs. There was no question in my mind, that the lion's eye would be my choice. And I have been working on what I'm calling my "Wall of the World" a collage wall along my stairwell, featuring photos I have taken around the world, along with some other prints and things I have collected during my travels.

(This wall is really hard to get a good shot of from the ground level, and even harder to get a shot of from the stairs, apologies for the weird angles).

I have other great pictures, including this one, which I may have to order another canvas for - since Easy Canvas Prints is offering 50% off their canvases! (Yes, please!) There's something about adding the canvas to the wall of framed pictures, that added a little extra character and texture, giving the collage wall a little oopmh. I'm totally a fan!

 Anyway, my goal is to get back here blogging and share some of the highlights of my fabulous South African Adventure! And more importantly, share more photos with you! After all, those are my best "souvenirs."