African Safaris: Looking Backward, Looking Forward
I should be in Africa. If all had gone as planned, my group of 14 friends and family would be experiencing the full glory of Victoria Falls right about now. Alas, like just about everyone else in the US, we’re Zooming about online rather than flying around to our favorite places in person.
My family’s first trip to Africa and our maiden voyage with The Malcolm Ainscough Collection occurred in June 2002. We had just returned to Chicago after a 3-year stint in Tokyo, loaded with airline miles and itching to explore a continent we had not yet visited with our four children, aged 13, 11, 8 and 6. We set out with our good friends, Paul and Suzanne Nowicki, and their two kids on what we expected would be the trip of a lifetime.
That’s not exactly how it turned out…
You see, when Africa grabs a hold of you as it has done for me, you want to share it with others. Immediately after that first trip, we planned another—this time with my father-in-law, Neil Lawyer, pictured here looking like a dashing explorer just outside Victoria Falls National Park on the eve of his 70th birthday in 2005, along with our youngest daughter, Jackie, then 8 years old. We lost Neil this spring, an early victim of the Covid-19 pandemic — but we will be sure to find this exact spot when we return to Africa in 2021 to remember his spirit of adventure.
After 15 or so trips to Africa, I joined TMAC as a Brand Ambassador in 2017. My goal is to help others experience Africa as a family, as a group of good friends, or even a single traveler. The common denominator I note when discussing African safaris with prospective clients is an intellectual curiosity — a desire to travel beyond the familiar beaches and resorts to a place like nowhere else on earth. I experience a vicarious thrill when discussing possible itineraries and matching clients to some of the dozens of safari camps, city hotels, and key sights that I have visited in the last 18 years.
I am now based in Naples, FL, but we typically get to Africa twice a year to scout out new camps and check in on our old favorites. We also make our annual pilgrimage up to Minneapolis and our cabin in northern Wisconsin, travel frequently to visit kids in DC, Atlanta, and Chicago—and stop in on friends and family just about everywhere else in the US.
We can’t wait to get back on the move, so if you’re interested in hearing more about the TMAC experience, give me a call — or let’s set up an in-person meeting somewhere down the road.
