In Swahili, the local language, safari means “journey”
Every time I go back home to Kenya, I love going on adventures, and the idea that always comes to mind is to go out on Safari. Most people think that a safari is simply getting in the car and going to see some wildlife, but in my opinion it is way more than that, a safari is a mix of different experiences feeling and sensations as so many unexpected events can happen. One particular time comes to mind when I was on a safari with my family, our car broke down in the late afternoon, we tried to fix it but we had no idea what was wrong with it, so we called a mechaninc that arrived 5 hours later in the middle of the night. I can still remember walking around the car and finding many lion’s footprints and when night fell, lions were appearing downwind. When the mechanic arrived, we encountered another problem-the car was out of battery. The only option was to push the car. I remember by the time the car started I was so tired , the next thing I know my mom shouted “LION!” from the roof of the car , I thought it was a joke but I still ran like never before haha! only until I got back in the car, my mom told me there was a lioness a few meters behind me!!
A safari is not like a trip to the zoo where you know you will see the animals, the national parks are immense and sometimes you barely see animals, that is why you want to wake up early with the sunrise over the horizon and hit the road searching for the awaking wildlife.
Driving around you can get to see incredible animals that you cannot stop admiring, zebra and gazels herds, buffalos, giraffes, lions, hippos and elephants. Elephants are personally my favourite, they are enormous creatures that really do make you feel tiny, especially when you get really close by, but there is something about these animals that make your fear go away and all you can do is just to stop and stare at these amazing giants passing by.
Personally I think the best safaris are the ones on foot, but to do them you must have some armed guides as you could turn into somebody’s dinner really quickly!!! On foot safaries allow you to feel the adrenaline running through your veins as you never know what is behind the next bush or the next rock, and when you start to see hippos and crocks in the river, footprints of predators on the river side, you really do feel alive and you get taken away by many incredible sensations.
One of my favourite parts of the safari is when the night is about to fall and you sleep at a lodge nearby a river, it is here that you can truly feel the wild. When the heat of the day passes, the animals become active again and they start to head to the water. When the night arrives, this is the best part. At the beginning, you do not hear anything as you are distracted by voices and other things, but when you lie in bed you start hearing the sounds of the savannah, whether a monkey screaming, a hyena laughing or the lion’s roar which is so deep that you feel it in the back of your bones and your heart nearly stops, a sound that trembles in the night. At night you wake up because of noises around your tent, don’t worry it is most likely a hippo that is taking a walk !!
Max Lovatelli 