Things We Learned on our First Safari

Brad and I are in Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve experiencing our first safari and enjoying every second of it. Here are a few things we have learned so far. In no particular order whatsoever.

— Safaris happen when the animals are most active. This means that you get up at the crack of dawn, rest during the middle of the day, and go back out in the evening. Because you are out for three and four hour stretches, they do require that you plan ahead for your beverage management. For me, that means maybe only a half cup of coffee before we go! Yikes!

— Be prepared to gain five pounds. The dining schedule goes like this.

5:30 am: Light Breakfast

9:00 am: Hearty Breakfast

1:00 pm: Lunch

4:00 pm: Afternoon High Tea

6:30: Cocktail while watching the sunset in the Savannah

7:30: Pre-dinner drinks in bar

8:00: Dinner

— Have your camera at the ready at all times. Impala, Kudu, and Warthogs have joined us at the lodge and at our patios. Apparently, just recently an elephant was found on the roof of our lodge!

— You will be escorted to your room by a guide when it gets dark. You don’t want to become someone’s midnight snack!

— Safaris can be relaxing. There are hundreds of species of birds here and their songs are very peaceful. I may have become a “birder” on this trip and could be joining Mary Frandsen in her love and appreciation of birds. Sorry Brad and Mike!

— Safaris can be joyous. We witnessed the birth of a baby impala and watched her take her first steps. She wobbled and fell down several times at the beginning but with her Mother’s encouragement she was up and running in about five minutes. It was joyful.

— Safaris can be intense. Think the Indiana Jones ride in Disneyland on steroids. We got a call that there was a wild dog siting one morning and our guide, Ruth, sped so fast in the pouring rain that we may or may not have almost lost Mary Stevens out the back of the Jeep once or twice!

Safaris can be heart-stopping. We came upon a leopard yesterday and he came within five feet of our Jeep in his effort to go find dinner. A few of us in the Jeep stopped breathing for a moment or two.

— Shamans are real. We visited a shaman in the nearby village and she predicted our group would see a leopard and within thirty minutes on the ride home we all encountered our first leopard. He had been eluding us for days.

— African children are loving and are eager to pose for photos and give you hugs. We spent a morning at several nearby schools and were completely overwhelmed by the children’s hugs and smiles.

— Mothers are the heroes of the Savannah but also can be the most vulnerable. The gestational periods for elephants can be up to 22 months , the Rhino up to 15-16, while the hippo and impala are only 6-8 months. The Lionesses have cubs in only 110 days. The Mothers we saw were very protective of their young while the male species were off galavanting or possibly watching football! Sadly, Mothers and Babies can also be prey because they are the most vulnerable especially after they have just given birth.

— There is an incredible diversity of animals and birds on the Savannah and they even provide you a check list to mark them off! I love lists so it has been great fun. So far, I have checked off 24 animal species including animals I had never heard of like Kudus, Bushbucks, and Duikers. We have also checked off 32 species of beautiful, colorful birds with names like the Square-Tailed Nightjar, the Red-Billed Oxpecker, and the Lilac-breasted Roller.

— We saw the Big Five and are allowed to go off road to follow them. So far, we have seen Lions, Rhinos, Cape Buffalo, Elephant, and our elusive Leopard. Following a leopard as he went after a kill might be one of the most exciting animal experiences I have ever heard. We have been close to seeing the Magnificent Seven which include all the Big Five, Wild Dogs, and Cheetah. All we need to do is find that rarely-sighted Cheetah.

— Bush Walks have their own element of excitement. We went out today with two guides whose rifles were loaded and told us what to do if we happened to run upon a lion or elephants. The rules are no walking and talking and no running away or screaming if we happen upon a large animal. While we were on foot, we chanced upon an elephant, a hippo, and more kudu. Not your average walk around the property!!

Our guide and tracker are passionate and incredibly knowledgeable. Our guide, Ruth is a 23 year old woman from CapeTown who has a love of the Savannah that is unparalleled. Her knowledge of every living creature that we have encountered is astounding. She is willing to pick up Elephant Dung and show us everything the elephants have had for breakfast as well as telling us colorful mating stories of African Crake (The males stick around in this story). Dollen, our tracker can sight a Serval in the high grass in the dark or a Verreaux’s Eagle Owl in a dense tree from afar. His sensory perception is unreal. We have felt fortunate to have Ruth and Dollen as our team this week. It is going to be hard to say good-bye tomorrow. There will be tears.

Here are a sampling of other animals we saw along the way: