The great migration is underway… the great Pinto migration to Africa, that is.
Dennis and I, along with our teenagers – old safari hands Sasha and Tristan – are thrilled to have made our annual summer pilgrimage from Manhattan to Africa.
Touchdown 2018 marked my 26th summer on safari with Dennis and his indefatigable parents, Felix and Jane, who make their home in Nairobi and Cape Town. And how extraordinary that our children have spent every summer navigating Africa’s splendid savannahs while the academic year is spent navigating the bustling streets of New York City—talk about contrasts.
Every summer we’re reminded of how truly expansive a safari can be. Africa’s golden joys can be surveyed by horseback or camel, as you see us enjoying above, or by vehicle, of course…
… or on foot, nestled up to a kindred spirit as Sasha found at Daphne Sheldrick’s exceptional orphanage on the edge of Nairobi National Park.
On foot, however, is a perennial family favourite. Little compares to a morning ramble across a grassland savannah.
As always, we also look forward to sharing our adventures with you via Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter—and thanks to the hugely convenient Wi-Fi in our safari vehicles (as well as in our lodges and camps), it’s pretty easy to stay plugged in….
That said, every year I’m struck by how the family—even the teenagers—manage to unplug on safari and enjoy the moment, Wi-Fi notwithstanding. Everyone engages deeply with the wonders of Africa throughout the day. Early evenings bring conversations around the fireside with our safari director and fellow travellers, while after dinner we’re often found on lounge chairs gazing at the constellations in the southern sky—when the Wi-Fi indeed comes in handy as we access one of those astonishing stargazing apps.
Family time feels especially poignant to us this summer as our nest empties in the fall when our son heads off to college and our daughter returns for her sophomore year. So I am grateful to Africa, yet one more time, for providing our family with such extraordinary experiences and memories.
We hope you enjoy following along with the Pinto fun!