What Is A Safari Trip Like? – Part 1

Everyone dreams of going on a safari trip.

We grew up watching Animal Planet and reading National Geographic. We’ve watch hundreds of video clips showing animal migration and interaction. Wouldn’t it be amazing to be able to see it all in real life?

It certainly is. But one’s expectations should be managed and this is what this post is about.

I’ll share on what you can expect on a safari trip. What you should be prepared for. What you should be equipped with. And what one MUST do to have a fabulous trip.

First of all, you cannot be afraid of large trucks. Expect to get on a large land rover. This is going to be the vehicle that will take you close to the animals.. AND save you when the elephants come charging.

If you’re going for a luxurious safari trip with a nice lodge, chances are nice chilled drinks will be served as soon as you arrive.

My advice – drink up. Nothing starts a holiday better than with a bottle of cold beer. Plus, you get less nervous about being THAT close to the wild animals.

Know that your driver cum safari guide is your best friend. He knows when to stop for you to enjoy the view.

And he knows when to stay further away in case we piss off the animal and he gives us one good kick and sends us flying.

On most game drives, there would also be a tracker sitting on an open chair *gulp* in the front of the land rover. The tracker is freaking important.

He’s your main shield when the elephants come charging. And if the lion ate him first, then hopefully you won’t get eaten. Hee.. just kidding. =)

Nah, seriously, the tracker’s role is to spot animals. He has a sharp eye and he scans the bushes as the land rover moves. He also looks for animal footprint trails.

Do NOT sit on the tracker’s chair, unless you know for sure it’s safe and probably best when the vehicle isn’t moving. *grin*

There are two game drives each day. One in the morning, which usually starts at 6am or 7am till noon. And the evening one at 4pm till dark.

Always always have the following for game drives – a good hat, sunglasses, sunBLOCK (as big a SPF as you can get, being in the sun for hours is not funny), a good windproof jacket for cold days and a scarf.

I love morning drives because the animals would have woken up and are hungry and moving. They would also be likely to be doing their morning huddles (see Impalas) and you’ll see herds of animals together.

Bring your best cameras for the trip. You must have a long telephoto lens (I used a Tamron 18-270mm) and a wide angle lens (I used a Canon 10-22mm).

Know that even if your equipment is the best in the world, you cannot always expect to get great tack sharp pictures. Chances are, you’ll have a bunch of shots that are blurry.

The vehicle could be moving. Or the animals would be moving. It is VERY hard to always get a good shot.

But sometimes, one of those buffaloes do take pity on us and give us a nice front shot.

He usually looks at you for a split second and he’s gone. So my advice is – shoot in P, AV or TV mode. Where got time to fiddle in M?

This is the wilderness, not the zoo. The animals are partially hidden most of the time. Don’t despair. You can always go to the Johannesburg zoo if you want to know what they really look like in full view.

And be prepared to be surprised by the odd head or two that pops up to stare at you. Coz we are the noisy foreigners. =)

Know that you can drive for hours without spotting anything. The park is HUGE and animals don’t always come near to the road tracks. Sometimes when you spot the animals, they could be really REALLY far away.

That’s why it’s good to pack a binoculars. Or if you have a super long lens, that can act as your binoculars too.

Remember to look in the skies. There are beautiful birds and scary vultures and eagles hovering over you.

The Big 5 of Africa are the Buffalo, Rhino, Elephant, Leopard and Lion. The last 2 are the hardest to spot because they are nocturnal animals.

So if you see at least 3 out of 5, consider yourself very lucky. Some people spend days in the safari and never see a rhino.

Chances are you’ll see what I call the Small 5 – the Impala, Kudu, Zebra, Warthog, and Giraffe.

And if you are very very VERY lucky, like we were. We bumped into two lions crossing the road while we were leaving the lodge!

We were freaking excited.

Until he suddenly stopped crossing the road. Turned and positioned himself like that and started to walk towards us. *GULP*

He looked like we had made too much noise and pissed him off. In such a situation, do not move. Do not stand up in the land rover. Stay still and breathe.

The lion did move away in the end. Heehee.. not like the elephants that chased us the day before (see Elephants).

More on what we do on safari trips and what a Night Game Drive is like in Part 2.. coming up!

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All posts on our safari trip at the Kruger National Park are here.