We celebrated our 50th Wedding Anniversary in August 2018.  We knew to celebrate we would want to take a “major” trip. A trip of a lifetime.

There wasn’t much discussion about what was on the top of our list.

A safari.

To see giraffes.

Nancy has had a love affair with giraffes for years and years.  I think it might have started the first time we stayed at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge and watched them gracefully walk the savannah by the light of the moon.

We even paid a visit to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo near Colorado Springs where the giraffe watching platform is at eye level.

In the past 20 years, there has been an estimated 35% decline in wild giraffe populations. In 1998 the IUCN estimated the total number of giraffe in Africa to exceed 140,000, but by 2016, this number has dropped to fewer than 90,000 individuals. Thus far there has been limited research and conservation efforts on wild giraffe, so the extent of their conservation threats are often undetermined.

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo has partnered with the Giraffe Conservation Foundation to support much-needed field research on the different giraffe subspecies and to help with multiple conservation strategies. In January 2016, the Zoo provided financial support and a staff veterinarian to help Operation Twiga translocate 18 Rothschild’s giraffe in Uganda back to a historic home range across the Nile River.

We adopted a giraffe as a birthday present for Nancy… she called her Lola… because she couldn’t remember her given African name.

Nancy visited the Naples Zoo that had a very small giraffe population a couple of times.  We went to Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge again.

After looking at many trip options – and deciding that our physical and monetary health would never be better – we decided that an African Safari was doable.

Coming up:

• Where to safari?
• How long of an safari adventure can we endure?
• D-I-Y or travel agency for a safari?
• The safari memories we made.
• Safari tips

Get a discount on African Safari travel. Use the code Mark250 at Gate 1 Travel to get $250 off Discovery – Kenya Safari Exploration tours valid until May 31, 2019.