Imagine a safari as a typical dinner. The landscape is the appetizer; the animals are the main meal; the lodging is the desert. It’s a lovely meal and very satisfying in every way. But what makes an African safari a true gourmet experience are the accompanying sauces. The unique and subtle flavors added to enhance the whole meal. Yvette, our senior consultant at African Portfolio shares her favorite safari sauces as it were. Those little moments that make an African safari a gourmet meal to remember.
Yvette’s Safari Sauces ….
- Riding in an open vehicle, or in the back of a pickup truck. I’ve just never outgrown the thrill of going fast enough to make my hair blow in the wind. It reminds me of my youth, when we’d ride on the dirt roads on the family farm in South Africa. I do recommend wearing sun glasses to avoid catching insects with your eyeballs.
- Sitting around open fires. It’s the perfect way to end a perfect day on safari. There’s nothing like the fragrant smoke of a real wood fire, no charcoal fuel smells to be discerned! Keeping it going by poking around the embers and adding wood is just great fun.
- Sleeping out under the stars. There’s nothing like the African sky at night. My favorite way to spend the night in the bush is with just a mosquito net in between me and the stars. Sleeping in the open in Africa has some drawbacks if you ignore all the rules and don’t sleep with a mosquito net. I once got a spider bite that left me with a full body rash and fever for 2 days after falling asleep out on the deck of my tent. But that hasn’t put me off, plus it makes for a great story!
- Skinny-dipping in a private plunge pool at night. Swimming under moonlight in your birthday suit is one of the great advantages of luxury accommodation, but not always highlighted in the brochure! Usually only an option at the most expensive lodges, but so worth it. A close second would be the outdoor bathtubs and showers, they are more common and slightly more affordable.
- Swimming in a natural river. Of course you need to watch out for the possibility of meeting a croc or hippo, but swimming in a cool, clear river is just a wonderful feeling.
- Shopping outside. Whether it’s for souvenirs or toothpaste, I think it’s so much more fun shopping in a place where everyone sells their goods outside in a market, rather than inside a shop.
Also See: Yvette’s Favorite safari Lodges l Contact Us
Knowing how much to tip and when to tip is very handy when you’re enjoying a 
is one of the most dramatic wildlife sanctuaries in all of Africa, providing the setting for an unforgettable safari. Canoe at a leisurely pace through floating islands of water hyacinth while watching the elephant play along the shoreline. Your guide interprets signs, identifies birds and their calls, explains interesting vegetation, canoes and walks you safely up to animals large and small. Accommodation is at fully serviced, tented camps.
and elbows its way through some of the best wilderness left on the continent. This is where the whole concept of the “walking safari” was born. The best way to experience the Luangwa River is to spend a few days walking from camp to camp, exploring the bush around oxbows and lagoons filled with wildlife from leopards and giraffe to lions and elephants. Don’t worry, the guides on these safaris are the best in the business. The camps are rustic but very comfortable and all have en-suite bathrooms. Cold drinks await you every night along with cozy campfires. 
But the hippo is vegetarian, it consumes over 1000 lb’s of vegetation daily, and only tends to attack when it feels threatened. You can enjoy hippo pods in many of Africa’s rivers, streams and lakes, idling away their time staying cool. Hippos can spend up to ten minutes submerged and then reappear on the surface with satisfying grunts and snorts. And this is where the “awww” factor comes in. Hippos sound like the most contented animals on earth. Their constant grunting and snorting provides the background noise for many safari camps close to water.
And Vervets (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) are a lot cuter than baboons, which are also a common sight on every African safari, so we’ve chosen them to be in our “Fun Five”. You can often spot Vervets in large family groups and it’s easy to spend half an hour just enjoying their social interaction. The babies are incredibly cute, especially when they are old enough to ride on their mother’s backs like young jockeys. Vervet males have a striking blue scrotum which always gets a good giggle.
You can see Meerkats (Suricata suricatta) throughout southern Africa in dry habitats. Meerkats are highly social and it’s their work ethic and sense of community that makes them so wonderful to watch. There are some excellent camps like 
We wanted to include penguins but they can only be seen near Cape Town and not on a regular African safari circuit. The aardvark was also omitted because it’s quite a rare sight. The ostrich was nominated, but while amusing, was not considered “fun” enough to make the cut. 
But at one point, we were learning basic first aid and CPR at the camp. One of the instructors came running in to get help with a Mozambique Spitting Cobra that had been spotted in the camp. I grabbed my camera and ran off to have a look. We got the cobra, but before we could bag it to let it loose in a safer location, we had to “tire” it out. That meant lots of tricky maneuvering with a stick so the cobra got rid of its energy, while we were trying to stay clear of it. I got the most fantastic photos and it really got my adrenalin pumping.
Not every trip requires going through a tour operator. If you’re planning a long weekend in Marrakech, it’s a simple matter of booking flights and finding the right Riad to stay at. The same could be said if you’re visiting Cape Town for a week. You might miss out on some of the insider tips we could offer, but you’d probably still manage to have a good time. So when should you use a tour operator?
2. If you are traveling to more than one country. Africa is huge and the infrastructure is not so great in many countries. This means that getting from A to B can be difficult unless you are familiar with the transport options available. Airline schedules can change from day to day and charter services can also be sporadic and difficult to book independently. Booking all your transport within your safari/vacation with one tour company will help if plans change. Renting a car with a driver from a reputable company is paramount, since you will be very dependent on them for their driving, navigating, guiding and language skills. Even if you are planning to see a number of different places within the same country, using a tour operator will help you plan your time. Covering a 100 miles in Tanzania can take all day during certain seasons, and in certain regions and national parks. You need the expert knowledge or you’ll end up spending the whole time traveling between places and not enjoying them.
Susan, 
