To do a safari in Africa, more than being an unique and unforgettable experience, is also to relieve childhood, and to watch “Lion King” in real life.

There is no better music for someone doing a safari than “The lion sleeps tonight”. When the first chords are heard, everyone gets ready to sing!

To do a safari is to understand that Simba, that little lion that so tragically lost his father, means Lion in swahili, and Rafiki means friend. Also Hakuna Matata, “such a wonderful phrase”, really means “no worries”.

Here in Africa that is really the motto. We bring with us thousands of problems from our privileged lives, and we see here “hakuna matata”. Here things move at a different pace. In Africa, the pace is living in the moment, regarding the landscape and marvel at mother Nature.

To do a safari is to spot a group of warthogs and here our guide say: “Look at the pumbas!” and everyone marvels at the sight of those peculiar animals. The thought that comes to my head is Pumba eating insects he found under a rock. And then, realizing that our guide never saw “The Lion King”, but already knows the names of the characters just from hearing the tourists mention them during the safaris.

To see all the animals in the Savannah, in the wild, makes us realize that Nature is really perfect. There is plenty for everyone, from the smallest herbivores to the largest carnivores. That makes us understand even better why we need to take care of our planet. Here, I had the opportunity to meet tribes that still live almost as they did before the Europeans arrived, to turn their world upside down! And, although the conditions these people live in are way worse than ours, if we compare to the standards of developed countries, they are happy, welcoming, and they smile and wave to strangers.

Best East African Safaris:

And all this, makes me think on what really matters. Makes me think that the priorities are all wrong in Europe and the developed world. We are all like sheep running from one place to the next, only thinking about the problems that are coming. We are living above the capacity of our Planet, and we know it is making the Planet sick. We continue to blindly walk on a path that is often meaningless, working jobs that we don’t love, and forgetting to seize the moment.

We need to learn to say “Hakuna Matata”!

We need to look more around us and less to ourselves

We need to search, within ourselves, what we want to do. What we want to leave in this world.

We need to stop watching the clocks and our bank accounts.

That is why I love travelling so much. Because I love what I find around me and I see other cultures. Because all that makes time stand still. And makes me question, makes me think.

So, you, that are reading this, stop a little bit and think how lucky you are.

“Hakuna Matata!”.

Visit João and Margarida’s blog – Nomad Plot – to read all about their worldwide travels or visit their Facebook Nomad Plot page and Instagram Account to follow their journey.