Lakeside camping in the Arizona desert.

Lakeside camping in the Arizona desert.

About 6 months ago from Australia I was talking to my friend Mike about camping, and how I was too afraid to camp in the US because of the mountain lions, pumas, bears, rattlesnakes…. coming from Australia many people find that strange as we are known for being a country full of animals and insects that can kill you. It spawned the meme ‘Meanwhile in Australia…’ accompanied with an image of another terrifying thing from our country.

But my problem is that in Australia, you can outrun anything that could kill you. Here a mountain lion could pounce on you before you knew what was happening. To be honest, my Mum had a huge influence on this fear, constantly telling me terrible stories about the beasts here in the US.

Mike thought I was a little silly I think, and promised to take me camping when I got to the US. He assured me it was fine.
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A hike up South Mountain.

A hike up South Mountain.

South Mountain Park is the largest municipal park in the United States, and is one of the largest urban parks in North America and in the world. Mike took me for a hike up to one of the tops of the hills to see the lights of the city at night.

The typical desert sunset went through a dozen shades of orange, pink, purple and blue, until settling on a dark blue, the sky illuminated by the lights from Phoenix.
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