Words :: Robert Artspool — Special to Mountain Life
For years, Pam Forsythe and her partner Lynn Garrison dreamed of Africa. They’d read the stories, seen the documentaries, and pinned photos of the Serengeti to their kitchen corkboard in Southern Ontario. But between the logistics—flights, transfers, lodges, vaccinations, safety concerns—the trip kept landing in the someday pile. That changed when they met Cynthia Davidson.
Davidson is the owner of Rivers, Oceans & Expeditions, a boutique travel company that specializes in bespoke adventure itineraries—trips that go far beyond what you can click together online. “From the first phone call, Cynthia just got it,” Forsythe recalls. “She didn’t sell us a package. She listened to what we wanted: something real, something intimate, and something we’d never forget.”
Within a few days, Davidson had built them a 10-day safari that blended adventure and ease in equal measure—private transfers, small lodges, expert guides, and just enough luxury to feel spoiled without feeling removed from the land. “From the moment we left home to the moment we returned,” says Garrison, “everything was handled. We didn’t have to think about a thing. Cynthia even tracked our flights and texted us to make sure we’d cleared customs in Johannesburg.”
Their journey began with a short hop from Victoria Falls to a remote airstrip near the Okavango Delta, where the adventure truly began. Forsythe remembers stepping off the plane and feeling the vastness of Africa in her bones: “It was just sky, grassland, and this wild, endless silence. You can’t prepare yourself for it.”
“It was just sky, grassland, and this wild, endless silence. You can’t prepare yourself for it.”
What set the trip apart, both women agree, was its authenticity. “There were only two jeeps total in our safari group,” Garrison says. “That meant we weren’t part of a convoy of tourists chasing animals around. When one of the guides radioed that a lion had brought down a buffalo, we were close enough to respond immediately.” They arrived to find the lion still feeding, the rawness of nature unfolding just metres away. “It was primal and humbling,” Forsythe says. “The kind of moment that sears itself into your memory.”
Davidson’s meticulous planning meant that nothing felt rushed—or canned. Their days began at dawn with coffee brought to their tent as the bush came alive. Afternoons were for siestas and slow lunches under acacia trees. Evenings meant sundowners on the savannah, the horizon painted in impossible shades of gold and violet.
“Cynthia found these incredible little lodges that felt like home,” Forsythe says. “Not fancy, but filled with warmth—woven rugs, local food, staff who remembered your name.” For Garrison, it was the people who made it unforgettable. “Our guides were encyclopedic in their knowledge but also funny, human. We’d stop for tea in the middle of nowhere and talk about everything—conservation, family, the future.”
Now back in Ontario, they speak about their trip with a mix of awe and gratitude. “We’ve traveled before,” Garrison says, “but this one was different. It was seamless, soulful, and alive. Cynthia didn’t just book us a safari—she gave us an experience that changed how we see the world.”
Forsythe nods. “When people say ‘trip of a lifetime,’ it sounds cliché. But for us, it really was.”
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