TBH, the idea of a safari didn’t used to intrigue me. I’ve always wondered if the animals are annoyed by the ever-present stream of green 4WDs in their migration land, and also, am I not supposed to be scared of the lions?
Then I started talking to people who’d actually been on one. And I learned that a modern safari, when chosen well, is less an intrusive check list and more a full immersive experience. Friends told me how the guides are like hosts who draw their attention and awareness to the smells of the savannah. They talk about how the wind feels, how the cacophony of animal noises can sound and how, sometimes, the sound of silence is even more profound. They tell me of the anticipation of listening to elephants stomp through the underbrush, closer and closer to where they stood.
And suddenly, a safari didn’t feel intrusive to me; it felt necessary. Like if I never stood in that epicenter of life and felt and heard and saw and smelled, then I wouldn’t ever really understand the world.
