Hayden Turner told us this story in 2014, about Lorene and her little girl Sienna, and it captured many hearts. The little girl has Down’s Syndrome and had struggled with speech.

“My 5 year old daughter has a hard time talking. Words are not easy for her. She crawled on my lap one morning while I was watching the waterhole and we saw the hippo. She loves animals as much as I do and became very excited.  I told her it was a ‘hippo’ and she repeated it clearly.”

Sienna and Ember

Lorene and her family added a daughter through adoption, named Ember, to their number in 2011, and are in the process of giving another special little girl a home right now. The 6 year old girls are active, loving and share a great bond since they were brought together. Lorene and her husband Thad have documented their journey on a blog called Adding a Senti, all about the struggles of raising and growing their family.

She has long held a dream to go on safari. “For as long as I can remember I have always dreamed of traveling to Africa and going on safari,” she says.  “As I grew up and got married I still carried thoughts of being able to see all my favorite animals in the wild.  I’ve read every safari story book I can find.”

Sienna has inherited her mother Lorene’s love for animals.

After becoming a mother to three boys and a building a “busy life”, she put thoughts of Africa out of her mind. “Until I found Africam and later WildEarth. I would be glued to the video stream of the waterhole. I spent many nights trying to ‘get a ride’ on the drive vehicle when there was only limited amount of space via the internet. It was wonderful to be able to bring my dreams back and experience it even via computer screen.”

When Lorene read on a Facebook post that the new and improved drives would be starting, she knew she had another chance to experience the wild from the comfort of her own home, without having to leave her family.

“The live safaris are a window to another part of this beautiful world we all share. It is the chance every day to see things that most people would never get to see and experience. I learn new things constantly – as do my daughters. It also allows me to join up with a community of fellow safari viewers and connect with people who in my daily life I would not have the chance to meet. I just can’t say enough about how much I value these safaris.”

If you have an interesting story to tell about your #safariLIVE experience, and would like to be featured in a future #safariLIVE Viewer Profile, contact us with your contributions, photo and video submissions at . You could be interviewed next!