Safaris come in many different varieties, and which option you decide to take will depend on a number of factors, depending on your preferences for comfort, safety and physical exertion. Most tourists visiting the game reserves will opt for guided vehicle safaris, but there are more exotic methods of viewing wildlife, even from atop the back of an elephant! This is an overview of the most common forms of safari and game viewing activity.
Vehicle Safari
As the name suggests, a vehicle safari involves driving around the game reserve in a car or 4×4 game viewing vehicle, watching animals from the comfort of your seat. You may opt for a guided drive which is usually the most popular choice, or you may decide to take your own vehicle into the reserve, if this is allowed, and look for animals yourself. Below is a summary of these two types of vehicle safaris.
Guided
A guided vehicle safari is the most popular form of safari in Africa, where a trained and experienced field guide takes the guests on a tour through the reserve, using a game viewing vehicle which is a modified four-wheel drive vehicle with additional seating and adjustments to make it perfect for game viewing.
For people going on safari for the first time, a guided vehicle safari is the best way to get acquainted with the animals in the bush. You will get very close to the animals, and in some reserves where off-road driving is permitted you will even be able to drive through thick bush to areas that you cannot see from the main park roads.
When booking at a lodge, they will inform you whether the drives are mandatory (e.g. if the reserve doesn’t allow self-drive, then you will be having a guided tour anyway), or if they are optional, in which case you may need to book yourself in or choose the booking option that has the drives included. In most private reserves, a guided drive is the only option, whereas the national parks are both self-drive and guided.
Self-Drive
Self-Drive safaris are common to the national parks, where the guests take their own vehicles into the reserve and drive around at their own pace looking for game. Most of the reserves that allow self-drive have very good tarmac roads, so that any car may be used, not only 4×4s.
There are usually also picnic spots in the self-drive parks, though caution should be taken when using these areas, as they are not usually fenced off from the animals.
The disadvantage of self-drive safaris is that you have no idea where the animals are and you need to rely on luck and good ‘bushvision’ to spot things, as opposed to guided safaris where the guides communicate the whereabouts of animals via the park radio system. You will also not be able to learn interesting facts about the animals or ask questions of a guide.
Further disadvantages of self-drive is that you cannot drive around the park at night, and if you are in a standard car rather than a large 4×4, you may not be high enough to get a good view of the animals. You will find yourself looking up at rhinos, though it will drum home how big these animals are!
Lastly, if you decide to go on a self-drive safari, please take serious note of the safety rules, and never get out of your vehicle when in the presence of an animal, even if the animal is someway in the distance. A lion resting lazily 20m away from your car may appear to be at ease and unconcerned with your vehicle’s presence, but place one foot on the ground and the situation could change very quickly and to your detriment! Please also bear in mind that some roads are marked ‘4×4 Vehicles Only’, and they mean it. Venture onto one of these roads with even a city-type 4×4 and you may find yourself stuck on a road and having to call the rangers to come and pull you out, something they won’t be very happy about.
Walking Safari
A walking safari is literally a walk through the bush. This can usually be combined with the vehicle safari during a guided tour, the walk taking place in the morning before the temperature rises, or in the afternoon. For some people, this is the best and only way to see the bush.
On a bush walk you can experience all the sounds and smells of the bush, and feel what it’s like to tread over the uneven ground. You will see the animals in the tranquility of their own environment, rather than from high upon a diesel vehicle. The disadvantage with bush walks is that you will not get as close to the animals, but the feeling of seeing an animal from ground level with nothing between you and it, is quite an exciting experience!
Walking safaris are always conducted by an armed and experienced field guide. Tourists are not permitted to go walking on their own, unless you are staying in a reserve with designated trails that are often fenced off from the main reserve. As with vehicle safaris, bush walks are perfectly safe, provided you follow the safety guidelines and listen to your guide at all times. More about the safety etiquette when in vehicles and on foot can be found in our health and safety section.
Horseback Safari
In some reserves you can go on a horseback safari, and as the name suggests, you ride through the bush on the back of a horse, with a field guide leading the troop. If you are a good rider and a lover of horses, this could be the ideal way to experience a safari, getting up close to most animals and enjoying the sounds of the bush without the noise of an engine.
In the old days before cars were common in Southern Africa, this was the only way to get around the bush, other than walking or cycling. It should be noted that it’s a requirement to be a strong and experienced horse rider when embarking on one of these safaris. Horses are regarded as natural prey by lions and it’s not uncommon for lions to stalk and charge people on horseback. For this reason, you must be confident about controlling a horse in such a situation.
Elephant Back Safari
What better way to enjoy a safari than from upon the back of the king of the bush, the African elephant? The elephants are remarkably quiet and gentle walkers, and a journey through the bush on the back of an elephant is an inspiring and special experience.
There are a small number of elephant back safari operators, where highly trained guides and trained elephants will walk you into the wild, getting up close to the animals and allowing you to enjoy the peace of the bush without the noise of a diesel engine.
The other advantage of an elephant back safari is that you will get to personally meet an African elephant, an opportunity very few people have the privilege of experiencing.
Canoe Safaris
There are a number of lodges on the Zambezi River and in the Okavango Delta that offer canoe safaris, where you get to see the bush from a very different perspective. The most significant dangers to a canoe safari are the crocodiles and hippos in the area, but all good guides will try to avoid these animals wherever possible. Make sure you go with an experienced and licensed operator.
Wilderness Trails
A wilderness trail for many people is the ultimate bush experience. Many reserves such as Hluhluwe-Imfolozi in Kwa-Zulu Natal have large wilderness areas where no vehicles are permitted to go. These areas provide a kind of breathing space for animals to get away from the noisy vehicles of the main reserve. Small groups of tourists are allowed to venture into these areas on foot, escorted by experienced guides and trackers, and spend from anything between 3 to 7 nights or longer in the bush, sleeping out in the open under the stars, carrying their own equipment in a rucksack and cooking their meals over a roaring campfire. It is essentially a camping trip into the depths of the bush, but instead of staying in one location the group is likely to move every day or so to a new area, with day walks taken from each base camp to explore the surrounding bush.
If you have ever wanted to sleep under the stars of an African night, listening to the calls of the lions whilst the woody smoke of a crackling campfire mingles with the floral scents of the bush at night, a wilderness safari may be the perfect choice!
