Room With a View
Room With a View
I look at your Lion’s Kiss hanging on my bedroom wall every single day! Your cards with giraffes bring life to my dad’s office (he props them up on his computer monitor) and your Family of Lions hangs above my mom’s bedroom furniture and reminds her of me and my brothers. Maria C.
View from our treehouse at Sarara Camp
A recent post from National Geographic noted “a study first published in 1984 found that hospital patients recovering from surgery took fewer painkillers and had a shorter recovery if they also had a room with a view of nature. Another study looking at COVID-19 lockdown habits found those who spent time in nature reported less depression, anxiety, and stress.” Most of us don’t need research data to prove the benefits of being in nature. I hope my weekly images and stories bring some of those benefits directly to your inbox.
I’ve had some rooms with amazing views on safari, like this view of the savannah from my tent in Naboisho Conservancy. I watched a handsome male lion walk through those trees in the foreground one rainy day as I packed my bag for an afternoon game drive. As soon as he faded out of sight, I alerted our guide to see if we could go out and find him. We did!
I’ll never forget settling down for an afternoon nap in Amboseli when something caught my attention. I raised myself up on my elbows and peered through the screen of the double door to orient myself. A massive muddy brown head rose above the thick grass. An elephant was quietly enjoying a mud bath directly in front of me! Excerpt from The Wisdom of Elephants.
Greeting wildlife from the comfort of your bed adds a whole new dimension to the idea of a room with a view. Sometimes visitors are small, like this little ground squirrel who scolded me from his perch on my verandah or the mongoose who stole a drink from the splash pool outside my cottage at Sarara Camp.
One of my favourite views was when Fupi, the orphaned reticulated giraffe, grazed outside my outdoor bathroom as my guide Robert Lemayian showed me my accommodations.
Later Fupi stuck his head in under the porch roof to see how I liked my room. A room with a giraffe in view is hard to beat!
If a room with a view is good for the spirit, going on safari is like a wellness retreat for the traveler. I’m dreaming of my next safari adventure. Email me if you’d like to be the first to know about it and I’ll add you to my mailing list.
Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends. I am grateful for all of you dear readers. Share the joy by sharing this email. Subscribe to receive free weekly stories direct to your inbox. When we support nature, nature supports us.
Heads up holiday shoppers! This year consider giving a gift that gives back to wildlife and supports conservation. Check out my online store for fun products. Copies are flying off the shelf of my signed limited edition book The Wisdom of Elephants. I only have 25 books left of this special first edition.
