2022 Reflections

2022 was a relatively quiet year filled with small happinesses, our first international trip after the pandemic and a flood of family events. So much happened this year, yet everything was happening around me, wings beating somewhere nearby while mine stayed still. Houses were bought, babies were brought into the world, so many functions that kept me on my toes… including a funeral of someone dear, and a wedding of one of my favorite people. Yet our lives remained a constant… a good constant but a constant.

We wanted to start 2022 with a bang but universe had other plans. After evading Covid for 2 years, we caught the bug in mid-January. Thankfully, as we are vaccinated, we were spared from anything life threating but it wasn’t a walk in the park either. We were left with weakness that lasted for months. Unfortunately, I ended the year on a similar note as well. In November, I got Covid again. Warm drinks, long sleeps and slowness were my companions yet again. Other than this, the year was pretty good, the best part being our epic trip to Kenya with a pitstop in Dubai.

For our first international trip after the pandemic, we decided to go back to one of our favorite places on earth… Masai Maara, Kenya. Though our 2019 trip was incredible, we did realize that September was tad too late to witness the great spectacle of river-crossing during the Great Migration. So this time around, we jetted off to what I believe is a slice of paradise on earth at the end of July itself. We spent six wonderful days there, witnessing some of the most astonishing sights we have ever seen. Every day we woke up to the most breathtaking sunrises over the vast savannahs, chirping of birds and rumbles of monkeys. We set out early in the morning for safaris and gaped at millions of wildebeests and zebras spread as far as our eyes could see. We pretty much witnessed river crossing every single day. To behold the huge herds of wildebeests, cross the Mara River, while the crocodiles lurked in the water, was a dream come true for a kid, who was enthralled watching the event unfold in front of her on a black and white TV for the very first time.

Herds of elephants, and buffalos, towers of giraffes, and a cast of vultures greeted us every day. Lion prides became so common that after a couple of days that we only stopped for them if they were close enough to put our big lens cameras aside and pick up our phones. The two animals that remained as elusive as ever were Leopards and Rhinos. We did have some fantastic sighting of both the animals, more so of Leopards than Rhinos. On one of our lucky days, we spent an hour with a sleeping Leopardess, who struggled to keep her eyes open and on other days we found them on trees, perched on their thrones too regal to care about the hoards of jeeps below. The best part of our trip though was seeing a Cheetah family. Mother with four tiny, over-enthusiastic and curious cubs filled our heart with joy on the two occasions that we managed to spot them. A Male Lion (Marsh pride) being chased by two other males of rival pride… oh so many wonderful sightings such as this but these are tales for some other day. For now, let us move on.

On our way back we did a pit stop in Dubai for around 24 hours. We did nothing much other than sleep and go shopping. Even in such short time, the city and its architecture impressed me and I am sure that I will visit this marvelous city very soon.

Other than this, it was the usual jazz with numerous family events including the wedding in Amritsar (oh yeah, so we did go to Amritsar and visit the Golden Temple), numerous get together with friends, lots of cuddle time with my paw baby, learning new recipes, finishing another course in creative writing, falling in love with morning walks, reading etc. I hope that 2023 too brings in few great memories.

How was your 2022? And I hope 2023 brings nothing but joy and happiness your way.