A brilliant bushwalk
Taking a walk through African bush with an expert guide is one of the most exciting and fascinating kinds of safari. Suddenly your senses are alert as age old survival instincts kick in. Yet your guide has your safety uppermost in his mind and you quickly become fascinated by the new natural world all around you. It seems that every few paces there is something new to see. Your guide will explain the workings of a seven foot termite mound made by millions of little creatures which use fungus to create an air conditioned environment. It extends just as far below the surface and all that work creates heat which you can feel flowing out of the chimney on top of the mound. You might even see a long column of army ants marching two by two to raid the mound, while a dung beetle busily rolls a ball of elephant dung across the path. Next morning you might drive past the same termite mound and see a cheetah sitting on it!
You can walk along the banks of rivers watching crocodiles soaking up the sun and pods of hippos laughing and yawning. And along ancient tracks worn over the years by elephants linking their favourite watering places and feeding grounds. In the dust you’ll see tracks and your guide will teach you to tell the difference between a lion track and a leopard track, and to explain how long since it passed by. On your family safari an open vehicle is best for seeing the big five – lion, leopard, rhinoceros, buffalo and elephant. Yet a walk is best for seeing the small five – ant lion, leopard tortoise, rhino beetle, buffalo weaver and elephant shrew. We think the small five are just as much fun to find and they’re every bit as interesting.
On your family safari we can include camps and lodges where you can enjoy a walk as well as a drive and maybe a boat ride and you can decide what you want to do each day with your private guide. Some of the best camps for walking are Tena Tena and Chamilandu in Zambia’s South Luangwa National Park, which are perfect in August. At Sabuk in the Kenya highlands you can walk with Masai and their camels even camping out overnight if you like. The Okavango Delta in Botswana is another great place for walking especially at Chitabe, on a big island in the delta with thousands of antelope, zebra, elephant and giraffe.
Call us now to talk about what you’d like to do on your family safari and we’ll design the perfect itinerary for you for a holiday of a lifetime.
