April 8th is my wedding anniversary and the first time I’ve seen my husband in almost 6 weeks. He is away, filming in South Africa for almost 4 months on his latest project. After 24 years, I’ve become used to the long separations that come with being married to an actor. It doesn’t get easier, but it is fun when we meet up, wherever he is in the world!

Catching up in Johannesburg and flying in to a private game reserve is a pretty spectacular way to reunite and celebrate. I’d never been to South Africa before and I was struck by so many things. There is extreme poverty alongside wealth. It isn’t unusual for someone living in the townships (unplanned, rough and tumble collections of tiny homes made from corrugated tin, plastic, and whatever is on hand, with no running water) to hold down a job and be fluent in between two and eleven different languages.

The game reserve was spectacular. The accommodations were an oasis in the middle of the South African bushveld, surrounded by animal-proof fencing. We spent the first night with our tracker, Edwin and our ranger, Jock in search of the Big Five: the lion, the elephant, the rhinoceros, the buffalo, and the leopard.

We saw warthogs, so ugly they were cute. We saw impala, zebra, and wildebeest, a cheetah hiding in the grass, and our first buffalo.

We stopped for a glass of wine under the stars and celebrated the great decision we made to get married all those years ago, and the crazy and exciting ride it’s been ever since. But we didn’t wander far from our vehicle!