lessons from safari

When I was doing a medical mission in Kenya, I stayed on an extra week and went on safari. If you have ever been you know it is amazing, and romantic in a very Hemingway sort of way. You spend your days in rugged jeeps traversing the savannah observing wild creatures at every turn, evening drinks (albeit sprite in my case) and appetizers as you watch the sunset from a high peak while flocks of flamingos come in on the lake. Night game drives covered up with blankets looking for leopards, dewy mornings drinking hot chocolate while animals gather around the watering hole. The sounds of monkeys screeching in the night outside your window. Oh and sleeping under mosquito nets (which I do not find romantic at all but rather claustrophobic and they reek of deet in attempts to ward off malarial mosquitos and you awaken clamouring for your inhaler in attempts to breathe) But the best part is snuggling into your bed which has been prewarmed with a hot water bottle. (Although i have to thoroughly inspect all the corners of the bed with a flashlight before crawling in (you know all those life threating rare diseasea and poisonous creatures are found in places like remote africa) I will warn you full well though- only on safari do they prewarm your beds- at the Hotel Kunste where I spent the previous 2 weeks the greatest luxury there was the provision of communal rubber flip flops with HK inscribed in them with a pocket knife (so you couldn't steal them)
And although I lack the other exotic elements here in new england-I sometimes try to recreate it the best I can with hot chocolate, some wild animals, and a Simply Cozy tucked into my bed(4 minutes in the microwave and it is so toasty- it actually keeps me warm all night- a major feat in new england winters.)

But if you don't have one and you live in a cold place - you know what to put on your Christmas List.