Upon departure on my first game drive, we came instantly upon several tall, graceful giraffes. Seeing animals in books or on the Discovery channel never much touched me, but watching them in the flesh sent awe through my being, and this feeling stayed with me during the three-hour drive viewing scores of giraffe, even more springbok and eight male elephants drinking from a man-made watering hole.

The massive, muddy elephants dipped their lengthy trunks into the liquid and then brought them awkwardly back up pouring water into their mouths, with most escaping down their bodies and onto the ground. Elephants in Etosha Park, with a life span of 58 to 60 years, have short tusks due to the park’s low amount of calcium, and the tusks are further shortened when the animals scrap bark off trees, dig for water and fight, often.

We also saw wildebeest, with huge faces and small, out-of-proportioned bodies, and kudu, antelope, flamingos, guinea fowl and five gorgeous Burchell’s zebra grazing atop a hill. Driving home, a lion, instantly standing in the middle of our path, startled us. Reverence filled my excited frame as the King of the Jungle stood erect for several minutes allowing us to admire and photograph his beautiful physique and excessive mane.