Yesterday, I went on one of the most amazing safari game drives I have ever done, at the Mattanu Private Game Reserve in Northern Cape, South Africa.

I’ve gone on quite a lot by now.

In the last 40 days alone, I’ve been on six safaris, and I have one more to go. It’s back to the Kalahari Desert for one night, before flying on to Cape Town.

So you might say I’ve experienced everything.

The other day I did a canoe safari  along the Orange River, as well.

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But yesterday’s game drive by quad bike was just wonderful.

I’ve never been on a quad bike before, by the way, as I’m ordinarily just not the type to do so.


But this is the new me talking, with a resolution to take on all kinds of personal challenges and push private boundaries.

See the giraffe in the background….

So when the safari lodge staff offered to give me a driver for my quad bike, I said, “No, thanks. I’ll do it myself.“

The safari staff looked worries. He then asked: “Have you ever ridden a motorbike before?“

Of course not, I almost said. But aloud I replied: “No, never. But I’ll figure it out.“

What a wonderful experience this was — and how liberating it is to dart in and out of the big, wide open wilderness looking for animals on your own, and then finding yourself alone with a group of giraffe or roan or oryx (which is what happened yesterday).

In fact, I almost bumped into a giraffe crossing the road because I was so busy looking at other giraffe on the opposite side.

And, of course, the giraffe could not care less about my quadbike.

How magical it was to have the entire game reserve to myself.

I actually went all the way to the borders of this vast 30,000 hectare game reserve, so I must have covered a lot of ground, on just another amazing afternoon in my never-ending, and never-endingly eventful Travelife.

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