Shambala Preserve & The Reality of Overthinking

I'm notorious for overthinking. I overthought this blog post. I definitely overthought these photos and on Saturday I overthought my way to checking something off of my bucket list. Long story short - Shay loves lions. His birthday was August 7th and the following weekend the Shambala Preserve was hosting their safari tours weekend of the month and I'd gotten us tickets for his birthday. We venture to a lot of little conservation centers and this one was known to house wild cats; lions in fact. I'm not very much but I do try a little and since I couldn't get someone I care about a lion to keep and hold, I took him somewhere I figured we'd be able to experience these majestic wild animals from just a few feet away. 

Disclaimer: I think everything this foundation and preserve stands for is great. I completely and totally see every angle they're coming from and have absolute respect for what they do. True story - we came on the hottest day of the year. We also are two introverts that were placed in a group and guarded from front to near. The cats were tired and sleepy and trying to avoid the heat. The tour guide was a little jumbled and didn't truly have a knack for communication and I was too hyped to use my new camera lens that I brought along a wide angle lens to probably the only location ever that required the exact opposite. It was hot, we were shuffled, we weren't allowed to stand too near and it wasn't everything we'd hoped for. I'm definitely happy my money went towards something good and I don't regret the day or spending time with someone I care for however, I definitely didn't win best birthday presenter of the year and though I'd literally dreamt about photographing this place for almost a year - I totally fucked up and didn't take any photographs worth appearing here. 

It's a memory and a lesson and we do have another little adventure planned for this weekend so fingers crossed I stop overthinking and just enjoy living and being here and life will grant us a cooler and more pleasant experience to endear.