Recently, I was fortunate to have some business travel take me to Cape Town South Africa. Since I would be traveling 20+ hours to get there, my wife and I decided to take a short vacation in the Sabi-Sands area on safari. I didn't realize most people plan these months or even a year in advance. Luckily, with the help of a local agency, we were able to find some cancelations and spend a few nights at two different private game reserves in the area. While the resorts were over-the-top fancy, we were there for the animals. Every morning at sunrise we would head out for a couple of hours in an open topped land rover with a guide and tracker to look for animals. And then we would repeat again in the afternoon until sunset. 

We were very fortunate to be able to see all of the "big 5" animals (rhino, hippo, elephant, lion, leopard) over the course of several days. We also saw wild african dogs, hyenas and a large number of antelopes: impala, kudu, nyala. In some cases we would be 10-15 feet from lions, zebras or elephants, which was a bit uncomfortable. You definitely appreciate where you are on the food chain. Leopards would be further away, but we bought a new camera (Canon SX 60 HS) with a good zoom lens for the trip. (I'll write up a more detailed review of this camera later on.)

This was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Here are a few photos...

• Amazon: Canon SX 60 HS