What makes safaris so exciting in South Africa

Safaris in Africa

As the loyal readers among you know, I worked as a tour guide for many years, making many trips to South Africa. One of my favorite pastimes on these tours were the safaris in Kruger Park, Hluhluwe Park with its beautiful scenery, and the penguins in Simonstown near Cape Town. Watching animals in Africa is a highlight of every Africa trip. Now we have ours Photo tour to the south of Dublin met before the TBEX in Dublin Dawn from The Incidental Tourist, who lives in Cape Town and reports on Africa and various travel destinations there. Reason enough for me to rummage through Africa in my photos and memories and to share a few photos of my safaris with you African animals to show and answer the question: What makes safaris so exciting?

Safaris in your own car

I prefer to go on safari myself, that is, with my own car. There are mutliple reasons for this. For one thing, I can organize my time with the animals myself and stay with a lion, a hammerhead or a niala as long as I want. On the other hand, I find this type of safari more exciting than when I'm on an organized tour. There, reports of animal sightings are transmitted by radio to all other vehicles in the park. These then come from all directions to the place where the leopard, the elephant, the buffalo, the lion or the rhino was last seen. With these Safari tours the aim is usually to see as many of the Big Five - the aforementioned animals - on one tour so that paying passengers can tick them off their lists.

You never know what you will discover on safari

When I go on a safari through Kruger Park on my own, I don't know what I'll see along the way. It's a matter of luck whether a lion is moving when I happen to be observing the region where it's lying lazily in the shadows. How many times have I driven past lions without seeing them? I don't know it. But it must have been many times. On the other hand, if I reduce the speed accordingly, I often discover very shy animals and birds in the undergrowth, which only rarely appear. The exciting thing about a tour like this is the uncertainty of what you will see along the way. Then I often get “hunting fever” – not to shoot animals, no. If so, then at most with my camera. But to discover as many animals as possible that I have only seen once or not at all.

Safari – Looking for experiences with animals

And I am always on the lookout for experiences with animals during a safari on my own. These can be very exciting. What could be more exciting than having an elephant bull block the way to the camp, which closes its doors in just ten minutes? Or when a whole herd of elephants marches quietly through the bush on the way to the next water hole, and I hear no loud noise even when the window is open, even though the animals only walk meters away from me through the bushes. Or when dozens of vultures sit on a zebra cadaver and drive around creeping jackals. These are the experiences that are remembered. I look for them on a safari. The more the better.

It's time to go on safari again, or what do you think? Who of you has been to Africa before and can tell your own stories about safaris? Tell us about it in the comments.

Do you also know:

• Animals in Africa: Lion vs Buffalo - Fighting the Big Five
• Easter holidays
• African food
• Staying at a hotel in Cape Town
• Slow Travel - the art of traveling slowly
• Whales are watching in front of Newfoundland
• My most exciting journey
• The Saone in Franche Comtè - the river of the swans
• Which rain jacket is the best?
• Enjoy the outdoors actively
• Culinary travel - how does it work?

Source: Research on local safaris

Text safaris: © Copyright Monika Fuchs, TravelWorldOnline
Photos: © Copyright Monika Fuchs, TravelWorldOnline