“Katherine!” I woke up to the sound of my son’s voice. Although it has been 5 years since I had him, I still seem to not respond to him calling for “mum” while I am asleep. Alex is and has always been an early riser, I am made to believe that all kids are. Keen to see a beautiful day in our new destination, South Africa. The thrill of Safari wildlife has always been one that I long for. This is one of the reasons why we embarked on this around the world trip, Alex and I. He did not have much of a choice, and I wanted to get it done before he was older and would have to be in school.

Such is the joy of IT freelancing, I can always travel without financial worries. I keep having to remind myself that I am still you, at 30. The infrastructure of South Africa is not much to write home about, compared to other places I have been. Yet, it reeks of character, history and a strong heritage, which most places have lost. I stared out of the jeep as we drove into Kruger National Park, occasionally turning to answer Alex’s questions. He had obviously chosen to ignore the fact that we were paying a tour guide to do that job.

I have always felt at home in nature, so Kruger brought that natural peace to me. The animals were even more glorious, with the tour guide’s narrative ringing musically in the background. The thrill that was in Alex’s eyes and his voice when he asked questions about the wildlife before him, is one that I will hold onto forever. I wondered if the weather was ever cruel in South Africa, the sun couldn’t have been better if I painted it.

As the day wore on, I couldn’t help but put my thinking cap back on. How could we preserve this amazing nature for the future generations. The jeeps were convenient but definitely not an eco-friendly way to travel. Perhaps the parks should be more eco-friendly. It would be spectacular to make everything here environmentally friendly. Not that I allowed those thoughts to steal away from the pleasure that this day had been. Coming from bigger cities across the world, I knew that this was the closest to environmentally friendly that I had been in a while. Alex says he wants to be a ranger to protect the animals from the poachers. My little hero.