There is no doubt that going on an African safari game-drive is the best way to see a ton of animals while in Africa. The vehicle allows you to cover a lot of ground in your search for Africa’s big game and acts as a mobile hide, allowing you to see animals in relative comfort. Game-drives are a great thing to do and makeup the bulk of a person’s safari experience.

More adventurous African safari tours, such as canoeing and walking in the dangerous game areas of Africa, are thrilling experiences. The world around you comes alive in a way that it cannot while you’re in a safari vehicle. The further you move away from the roads and into the bush or down a river, the further you move away from the modern world. This is a liberating experience as we have moved so far away from the world that we all came from. And the thrill of being out with nothing but your own senses transports you back to the world of our ancestors.

Often, you will not see any big game at all on a walking safari but you know they are there as you see signs, such as a fresh leopard track, a worn elephant trail, the warning bark of a secretive bushbuck, or the unmistakable scent of a recently past  elephant herd.

Today, the massive growth in the safari industry makes it quite easy to book a safari that can get you into a lot of trouble. In the late eighties and early nineties very few countries and camps offered adventure activities like canoeing and walking. When I first started working as a guide in 1992, Zimbabwe had so few walking guides you could count them on one hand. Today, nearly every country and every camp or lodge offers walking and canoeing tours, and some even offer horse riding and mountain biking. This is great as there is a lot more to an African safari experience than sitting in a vehicle.

But it is VERY important to be with people who know what they’re doing. We hear more and more about accidents happening when people are out of the safari vehicle. Even the most experienced guide can get into trouble, which is why it’s important to ensure that you are with a guide who has the experience and training to handle the unpredictable situations that develop so quickly. A guide with experience can read a situation and avoid it before it even happens. Simple rules such as “never approach a female herd of elephants” can save a lot of trouble. A good guide needs to be stronger than his guests and not let them push him into going closer to get “that photo.”

There are many great guides in the field today in every safari country in Africa. Each country has its own licensing or grading system, so some are better than others. In Zimbabwe, it takes a minimum of 3 years of intensive training and exams before a guide is allowed to walk with guests. A good guide develops a feel and instinct for the world around him / her, as they spend thousands of hours in the field.

Adventure activities are without a doubt the best way to experience an African safari tour and something everyone should try and do if they can. But, it’s very important that you go out with a qualified guide, and the best way to do this is to bypass Internet sites and to book through experienced African safari travel agents who work with experienced operators.

by Mark Homann, certified safari guide

There is no doubt that going on an African safari game-drive is the best way to see a ton of animals while in Africa. The vehicle allows you to cover a lot of ground in your search for Africa’s big game and acts as a mobile hide, allowing you to see animals in relative comfort. Game-drives are a great thing to do and makeup the bulk of a person’s safari experience.

More adventurous African safari tours, such as canoeing and walking in the dangerous game areas of Africa, are thrilling experiences. The world around you comes alive in a way that it cannot while you’re in a safari vehicle. The further you move away from the roads and into the bush or down a river, the further you move away from the modern world. This is a liberating experience as we have moved so far away from the world that we all came from. And the thrill of being out with nothing but your own senses transports you back to the world of our ancestors.

Often, you will not see any big game at all on a walking safari but you know they are there as you see signs, such as a fresh leopard track, a worn elephant trail, the warning bark of a secretive bushbuck, or the unmistakable scent of a recently past  elephant herd.

Today, the massive growth in the safari industry makes it quite easy to book a safari that can get you into a lot of trouble. In the late eighties and early nineties very few countries and camps offered adventure activities like canoeing and walking. When I first started working as a guide in 1992, Zimbabwe had so few walking guides you could count them on one hand. Today, nearly every country and every camp or lodge offers walking and canoeing tours, and some even offer horse riding and mountain biking. This is great as there is a lot more to an African safari experience than sitting in a vehicle.

But it is VERY important to be with people who know what they’re doing. We hear more and more about accidents happening when people are out of the safari vehicle. Even the most experienced guide can get into trouble, which is why it’s important to ensure that you are with a guide who has the experience and training to handle the unpredictable situations that develop so quickly. A guide with experience can read a situation and avoid it before it even happens. Simple rules such as “never approach a female herd of elephants” can save a lot of trouble. A good guide needs to be stronger than his guests and not let them push him into going closer to get “that photo.”

There are many great guides in the field today in every safari country in Africa. Each country has its own licensing or grading system, so some are better than others. In Zimbabwe, it takes a minimum of 3 years of intensive training and exams before a guide is allowed to walk with guests. A good guide develops a feel and instinct for the world around him or her, as they spend thousands of hours in the field.

Adventure activities are without a doubt the best way to experience an African safari tour and something everyone should try and do if they can. But, it’s very important that you go out with a qualified guide, and the best way to do this is to bypass Internet sites and to book through experienced African safari travel agents who work with experienced operators.