How this trip came about...

So, I'm sure there are some of you that are wondering "Why go to South Africa?" Well, it all started a year and a half ago at a YMCA golf fundraiser. Yep, at a golf course. After everyone was done golfing they had some silent and live auctions. And one of these live auction items was a 6 Day/6 Night African Safari. Maybe I should back up and state that at 10am that day I had a bloody mary in one hand and a beer in the other. And I should also note that they had free beer on the course.
Okay, back to the live auction... My mom asked me if I was going to bid on anything, and I told her that I was interested in the African Safari. I'm not sure if she believed me, but she sure acted surprised when I put my paddle up to make a bid. At first it was going up slowly, with a small group of people bidding on it (maybe 5 at most). Then all of a sudden I notice that it's just me and one other person. Unfortunately, they were sitting in the back of the room and I couldn't see who they were. Which come to find out, would have been useful information. So, I had told myself a limit that I wanted to pay, and before I knew it we reached that amount. This is where the liquid courage and everyone else in the place egging me on, caused me to keep bidding. It got to the point where it was well beyond my max bid price, and I needed to stop. So, I ended up losing the auction item. Sad, I know.
After they awarded the bid, I still got lots of congratulations since I helped bring the auction price up so much. Which still seemed weird, but I said thanks. Then all of a sudden I get pulled aside by one of the event organizers. He started to thank me again for helping raise the price. Then I found out that I was bidding against the lady who was the main sponsor of the whole event, so my bidding was doomed from the beginning since she wasn't going to stop bidding until she won.
You're probably wondering how I ended up with a 6 Day/6 Night safari. Well, the event organizer also pulled me aside for another reason. He told me that there was actually a second safari that they were going to auction. And said that he would give it to me for my last bid price. I said, "you've got yourself a deal". Yes, it was over my "max bid price", but the money went to the kids. And how can you say no to helping the kids?
So, there's the story on how South Africa came about. Part of the safari deal was that you needed to book it within 2 years of purchasing it. And I realized that I would be turning 30 within 2 years of purchasing. What's a better 30th birthday gift to yourself than a trip to South Africa?