I'm Toni, the 20-something solo female traveller behind Reclaiming My Future determined to step foot on every continent facing my fears along the way.

My travels began in 2010 with three months around Asia. I experienced everything from diving to climbing volcanoes and wanderlust bit me so hard I was soon in Africa, overlanding for 6 weeks from South Africa to Kenya seeing the Big Five up close and pushing my comfort zone to the max!

I have been fortunate enough to see and do some incredible things along my travels, but there are some experiences that will always stay with me. The experiences initially scared me but made my heart feel so happy, words fail to describe it.

Getting close to manta ray (via toniwoni on Flickr)

In Asia I can, without a shadow of a doubt, tell you that diving was one of those heart-warming experiences. Arriving in Thailand I was incredibly excited about learning how to dive and just two days after passing I was getting ready to stay on a live-aboard dive boat for a week's sailing around the Similan Islands.

I was nervous as I prepared to jump into the water for the first time, but the moment I began to descend I felt at home. There is nothing like seeing thousands of fish and coral interact with each other in a place you've only ever read about in books or seen on the TV.

I didn't think it could get any better, until I saw her. Out of the corner of our eyes, we saw a flick of white and before we knew it, we were in touching distance of a four foot Manta Ray! At that point, I wasn't worried about if my breathing was correct or trying to hit neutral buoyancy, I was too busy staring at the magnificent creature gliding by us like a graceful alien.

It was just us, the big blue and this incredibly playful beauty. I was so happy I began to cry underwater.

Diving may be an 'extreme sport' with dangers but when you get that close to such a rare animals, surely it's worth the risk?

Africa is a different story; I could fill a book with the experiences I loved but the one that stands out the most? Micro-lighting over Victoria Falls.

Toni views Victoria Falls from the air (via toniwoni on Flickr)
 

Visiting in the dry season, the Falls didn't give me the 'wow factor' I was told I would feel when I saw it on ground level but it was an entirely different story when I viewed it from above.

Waiting for my flight I was filled with excitement; I'd never been in a micro-light before and I'd certainly never flown over one of the Seven Wonders of the Natural World! We flew over herds of elephants and pods of hippos on the way and before I knew it, there it was - Victoria Falls. Simply breath-taking!

The gorges spread further than I had ever imagined and I realised the grandiose statement Victoria Falls makes. I finally understood what the explorer David Livingstone meant when he said that 'scenes so lovely must have been gazed upon by angels in flight'.

With millions of gallons of water producing spray, rainbows are almost constant and my pilot told me that the saying is 'if a rainbow follows you at Victoria Falls, it follows you for life'; such a beautiful statement to hear when you're rendered speechless with happiness. Tears rolled down my cheeks at the realisation of what I was seeing and doing.

I never thought I would struggle to find the words to describe how I felt but seeing Manta Rays and Victoria Falls did just that; a happy heart speaks a language the eyes cannot read.

Toni wrote a guest post as part of Hotel4U's Blogger Week. Visit her blog Reclaiming My Future, follow her on Twitter or join her on Facebook.

All photos are courtesy of Toni via Flickr.