A Safari Game Drive is one of those experiences that you can’t really describe with words.
It is exciting and life-affirming, it is the absolute encapsulation of the unexpected, and where even the least hopeful and the least excitable will be hopeful and excited. Sitting in the back of the truck and not knowing what you may see when you drive around the next corner fills each and every one of us with the same excitement that a 6 year old child wakes up with on christmas day; there is simply nothing else like it!
I’ve been incredibly lucky to have a few experiences of Safari in my life and I’ve well and truly caught the bug! When I first went on safari at 16 years old with my family, I loved it so much that when it came to booking my gap year, I booked a huge trip down the east coast of Africa, planned to include safari in several different countries and some of the biggest safari reserves in the world, and it was one of the most incredible experiences I’ve ever had.
Needless to say, when I was offered the opportunity to go on a 2 day safari while I was out in Tanzania this year, I jumped at the chance!
The safari park we went to was a relatively small park called Mikumi National Park; an 8 hour drive from where I was staying in Dar Es Salaam. Every minute of that drive was worth it, and then some!
We stayed in gorgeous huts inside the boundaries of the park itself, where we had to be escorted around by men with guns incase any animals decided to wander into the camp, and ate freshly cooked local food each night (a complete necessity when I travel anywhere – I have to try the local dishes!)
The safari drives were fantastic. From my previous experience of Safari, I know that seeing a Leopard is something that is reserved for an incredibly lucky few, and so when we saw a Leopard in the first hour of our drive, I was absolutely high as a kite!
There is nothing quite like seeing that animal, completely at ease, resting in a tree, in its natural habitat. It is a privilege, and something we should never take for granted.
I did say that safari is an experience which you cannot really put into words; but luckily I managed to capture some fab photos of those couple of days – so I’ve shared a few in this post which I think show what a fantastic experience it was!
I have definitely caught the safari bug, and I know it is something I hope to do many more times in my lifetime – my current aim is to take M on safari, because he has never been. I just know that he will love it as much as I do, and can’t wait to see the look on his face when that excitement starts coursing through him!
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