PURSUING PERFECTION
Veronica Marconi & David DeWolfe
You never get a second chance at a first impression, or so we are told. So when Veronica Marconi and David DeWolfe decided to celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary with their first-ever African safari trip, they knew that only a handcrafted Rothschild itinerary would suffice.
We make the distinction of not providing packages. Perhaps Veronica and David could have booked a set itinerary with ease, every step plotted and charted and walked a thousand times before them. But in doing so, they would inhibit their dreams, restrict their experiences and take a vacation that, while ticking certain boxes, would feel stale, impersonal and secondhand.
Only an African safari trip handcrafted by an expert Travel Designer can truly encapsulate every aspect of Africa; from mountains to plains, luxury lodges to tented camps, and every step of the journey in between.
By placing trust in your Travel Designer, not only can you be assured that everything will be taken care of for you, you are also afforded the privilege of a bespoke experience in every aspect. If you wish to see lion, we will take you to the best luxury lodge in prime lion country for the highest likelihood of not just spotting a lion, but seeing many lion hunting in a pride, nurturing their young and feeding. We think beyond your wishes, and in doing so, that ten-year anniversary, 50th birthday or romantic honeymoon will not only be unforgettable, it will be an utterly unique trip of a lifetime.
“I went with Rothschild, because I didn’t know much about Africa and I’m actually a pretty big control freak,” admits Veronica. “I love to do the research and find things myself, so I researched the best travel agency and found Rothschilds. That’s what I was able to research.
“We’re pretty adventurous and we don’t typically like to be where there are crowds. We knew we were going to spend more money on this trip than we typically do, because it was our ten-year anniversary trip. So that’s why I was looking for a more luxury African safari trip with people who have experience, know the areas, know where to go and so on.”
Beginning in Uganda, the couple were blessed from their first experience. Trekking through Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, one might spend three or four hours hiking simply to find the iconic gorilla of the region; for Veronica and David, it took under an hour, and they were treated to an encounter that few get to witness.
“The gorilla trekking was really what started it. I wanted this experience to see an animal that you can’t see, to really be able to potentially interact to some level. I’m an animal lover. I’m very conscientious about where and how I see animals because as much as I want to be really interactive and touch and play, I know that’s not right.
“We were having guides tell us how lucky we were on some of the stuff that we saw and got to witness. So I don’t know if they were just trying to make us feel good, but it worked.”
“All of a sudden they all just come out right around you right out of the woods, out of nowhere.
“They walked six inches away from our ankles with a baby on its back. I really thought it was gonna be, you know, like 20 yards away. They wouldn’t let you get any closer and you just kind of sit and you watch them, but we were immersed and then they come right by and they don’t care about you, like, ‘the humans are here for the afternoon’.
“A lot of the time it is that case, you know, you’ll be close to them, you’ll be able to observe them and you have a clear line of sight and you spend plenty of time with them. But it is also very rare for them to just walk so close to you like that.
“I was standing next to my husband and there was a tree behind me.
“I walked away from him and turned around. I could have leaned on the tree and I turned around after walking about 10 feet away from him. And there was a gorilla just leaning against the same tree. She must have come up behind us when we were watching. And she was like, ‘I’m just gonna sit by this tree’. And so she’s two feet away from David just sitting there. And I’m like, pointing at him, trying to get his attention.
“And he looks and he slowly walks away, and then she stands up and there’s a baby on her back and she just walked right past me.
“There was a silverback who walked about straight at me with two people next to me and then turned a 90-degree turn about two yards away from us and I was like, I have nowhere to go right now. I mean, he wasn’t aggressive, but I think it was definitely him trying to intimidate or bluff us.”
This magical way to start their journey was only the first of three distinct chapters in a diverse African safari trip. From the misty mountains of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, the pair boarded a charter to the Maasai Mara – the quintessential African safari destination.
Here too, they were blessed with wildlife experiences far beyond the conventional, as if some karmic hand were orchestrating the world around them:
“We got picked up for our first game drive ever, straight off the plane. Never in our lives had we done a game drive and we didn’t know what to expect, really, other than what you see in movies and documentaries.
“Our guide said he’d heard of a leopard sighting. It was 4:30 or 5 o’clock and he said, like, ‘let’s go see a leopard’. I don’t need to go right to the hotel or the camp, so let’s go see it.
“We spent an hour and a half with this leopard. We watched her in a tree. We watched her come down the tree. We watched her yell at a hyena that was sitting at the bottom of the tree. She came down to the water. She came up our side, went back down. I had some amazing photos of her. And finally she actually ran right in front of our car.
“We checked and we’re having dinner and people are like, ‘was that your first ever game drive? You know, some people come here and never see a leopard, right? Ever’.
“I didn’t realise that people will come out here for four days and search for a leopard the whole drive and they will go without seeing any leopards. And we did our very first game drive… straight off the plane.”
Though preceding the Great Migration by a matter of weeks, the Mara still provided an abundance of wildlife for the couple. Active too in their life back home, they revelled in hikes upon the grasslands, dawn game drives, plains explorations and horseback riding.
In the Mara, enjoying the more sedate game viewing after the forest hikes of Bwindi, Veronica understood that it is only with expert knowledge that one can plan an African safari trip so impeccably. While some might conclude a journey with gorilla trekking, for Veronica and David, it meant that they were able to let go and unwind on safari, knowing the exertion on the forest trails, rewarding though it was, was over.
“I didn’t really have an opinion, but I’m glad we did the trekking first, because it was a little bit more activity. Even the first day (in Uganda) we did the waterfall walk, and at first, we had gotten off plane after plane after plane and had about four hours of sleep.
“I didn’t want to go to a waterfall but thought, no, let’s go do this, let’s get out, let’s move. And I don’t regret that.”
“If I was the right person, I could just sit and relax, but I’m not that person. I even tried to talk myself into it one day. I was like, you know what? Say you’re not going to go for that morning walk and you’re just gonna sleep in a little bit. I don’t know, I could’ve missed something.
“I’m not an early riser, so the fact that I was up and out of bed at 5:30, 5:45 every morning and still ready to go on that very last game drive of the trip, that was clear it was the right amount of time”.
And so to the third chapter. Lewa conservancy beckoned, and from the humid jungles of Uganda and the lush grasslands of the Maasai Mara, Veronica and David found themselves in the drier landscapes of Northern Kenya.
Time and again, our clients echo our own emotions when arriving at Lewa. Regardless of whether you are returning for the fifth time or visiting for the first, Lewa brings with it a sense of coming home. Greeted like family, afforded the space and time to do as they pleased, it offered warm hospitality, diverse opportunities, but the freedom to simply relax.
“It was nice to end it on Lewa for two reasons for me,” says Veronica. “First of all, we saw pretty much everything in Kicheche on the Mara, so I did not feel like going to Lewa we were going to miss anything or that I had to see anything.
“But it also made me more comfortable to say, OK, I’m gonna take that camera and I’m going to go for that walk, I’m going to go see the waterfalls and stuff because I don’t feel like I’m missing animals on a game drive. Like, I didn’t feel like I was gonna miss out.”
“The order of our experience was perfect because we got the wow factor right away with the gorillas. So you’re like, OK, this is awesome, my trip is made no matter what I see from here on out. And I wasn’t expecting to go to Lewa and get that close to animals, which we ended up doing. And it was still beyond my wildest dreams how close you get to these creatures.”
Perhaps some might consider their journey a whirlwind tour, especially given that Veronica and David hiked between Kicheche’s three Mara camps. Indeed, this too was Veronica’s first impression. But by placing her faith in the knowledge and expertise of Rothschild Travel Designer, Ruthie Detwiler, she ensured that her African safari trip would be perfectly planned, diversely entertaining and with the perfect balance of activity and tranquility throughout.
Like a perfectly composed poem or a precisely executed recipe, Ruthie conjured the right elements – a dash of adventure, a cup of wildlife, a generous splash of excursions and just a sprinkling of relaxation – to formulate a journey exquisitely befitting of the couple and of they alone.
From rain-soaked Bwindi to the verdant plains and on to Lewa’s dusty landscapes and spectacular misty mountains, three very distinct experiences found perfect symmetry.
“I do admit that I was worried,” Veronica suggests. “Looking at the itinerary, I would think that we were going to be too short on time at each place, but no. I think Ruthie did a great job of spreading it out the way it was, especially because we were doing the three Kicheche camps; we did the Valley Camp then we did the Fly Camp and then we did the Bush Camp and I was like, OK, that’s not enough time, we’re not going to get enough experience in each one. I think the fact that they were all affiliated and that we walked from one to the other, it still felt like the same experience. It didn’t feel like we had to get up and move. We walked, you know, and then stopped overnight and then continued to walk. So no, I think each place we really did get about the right time. But then, is it ever enough time?”
Perfection is an untenable goal, but through our wealth of knowledge, connections and experience, it is not unattainable. Ardent planner and organiser though she is, even Veronica admits she is baffled by the level to which we can create perfection:
“There are things that I don’t even know where to begin. You know, getting a driver for the day, sure, I could probably figure that out. But there were people waiting at the airports when we got there that walked us from the car all the way to our gate. I don’t even know how you booked that. Like, how does somebody find that person to do that?
“Had we not used Rothschilds, I don’t think I would have been able to come close to replicating this trip myself so I’m very impressed.
“100 percent we will go back to Africa, just maybe not try to replicate this exact trip so that we’re not comparing it because this one seems even better than we could have ever hoped for.”
“It was the only trip I’ve ever taken where I could fully relax because I’m that control person and I do all the planning and I’m always OK, our flights are this day; we gotta do this; I gotta do that. It’s always in the back of my mind something is going on. But on this trip I didn’t worry about anything because I knew somebody was talking to the camp or the camp knew what was going on. One day I was like, wait, do we leave tomorrow or not? Like somebody will take us to the airport if it’s time to go to the airport. So it was the first trip I’ve ever truly, fully relaxed and it was, it was big for me, yeah. And it gives you that opportunity with that amount of relaxation and not having to think ahead to just immerse so much more in the experience.”
Simply viewing a handful of National Geographic documentaries will give you enough fundamental knowledge to create an Africa safari trip checklist; Lion? Check. Elephant? Check. Maasai tribesman? Check. But as the familiar experience unfolds, one becomes aware that a true safari is an incredibly personal, and personalised journey. With Veronica and David, we understood that adventure, diversity and activity were key factors, creating a foundation for their itinerary. For others, perhaps photography or family, culture or cuisine are essential elements.
These personal preferences are suffocated in cookie-cutter packages, drowned in the pre-conceived notion of an African safari trip. A handcrafted bespoke journey encourages the soul to soar, the imagination to flourish and the once-in-a-lifetime to exceed your wildest imaginings.
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All images: ©Veronica Marconi
