Carol asked me how big the giraffe exhibit is at the zoo in Omaha. My immediate response was to tell her that it was small – but I’m pretty sure it’s because I had just seen about 50 giraffes roaming freely on the vast African savannah (and I’m pretty sure my jaw was wide open the entire time).

I had been looking forward to seeing the giraffes on this trip – to me there is just something so majestic about these tall creatures. But make no mistake, just because they are gentle and don’t have a voice box doesn’t mean that they’ll go down without a fight. Our safari guide told us that it would take a pack of 7-10 lions to take down a single giraffe.

Not only was it a treat to see giraffes, elephants, waterbuffalo and other wildlife, we were also lucky enough to witness a leopard (yep, you read that right) take down its prey. Seeing a lion is pretty rare on a safari, so seeing a leopard – that’s one in a million.

I’m pretty sure that in any other situation, it’s advised to stay away from wild leopards. But when you are on a safari, in a huge blue bus, it’s clearly expected to do some off-roading and head straight toward the leopard. It’s a good thing it already had its dinner in its mouth.