Simpson Travel

WALK ON THE WILDSIDE FOR THE SECOND TIMER This is where diversity becomes key. As wonderful as the great migration is, there is an inevitable sameness to a million wildebeest, so visit a region with a greater variety of life (such as Botswana’s Okavango Delta). While you won’t see a million of any one species, you will see a diverse selection and, as the landscape is so varied, you could even spot a wetland animal such as a hippo within metres of a true desert species like the bat-eared fox or ostrich. Where to stay... Xigera Camp , Botswana. Take a water safari and enjoy starry nights in a beautiful area with absolutely no light pollution. FOR THE SEASONED SAFARI-GOER Once you have been on a few safaris and seen the largest and scariest of animals, if the bug has truly bitten there’s still more to experience. Perhaps the greatest change in my 21 years on safari is how many ways you can now look for wildlife. It used to be solely on foot or by four-wheel drive, but now the options include sitting astride an elephant; on camel back; in a canoe; from a hot-air balloon; aboard a motor boat or inside a helicopter or light aircraft. Even just waiting in a hide and letting the wildlife come to you can be incredibly rewarding! Where to stay... Ongava Lodge , Namibia, overlooks a watering hole so you can watch the animals that gather there. While I could never understand anyone getting jaded with this many ways of going on safari, I do feel the urge to see something new. This has taken me as far afield as the Congo to look for western lowland gorillas (and while writing this, I am on the Angola border at Serra Cafema camp, the closest you can get to the moon without NASA’s budget). Yet you don’t always have to trek that far from the known to see something rare. Even in well- trodden South Africa, you can seek out the most rarely seen trio of mammals – the pangolin, aardvark and aardwolf. Kwandwe Reserve is known to be good for the latter two and I will be heading there soon, not for that trifecta but for my bogey species, the only cat in the region I have never seen – the black-footed cat, a tiny tiger famous for ferocity, yet so rarely observed it is hard to know how it has this reputation. It’s a cliché to say that safaris are addictive, but all clichés come about because they are true. You’ll find yourself returning, maybe seeking out the smallest or rarest, maybe pursuing the great action photo of a lion or seeing cubs you once knew grown. The only guarantee is that you will never run out of animals to see, or ways to see them, or stories to tell. Further reading... To find out more about Peter’s adventures and life as a safari guide, read his books, Don't Run Whatever You Do and Don’t Look Behind You ... Both can be found on amazon.co.uk . For further African inspiration head to r blog: simpsonexclusive.com/blog/african-safaris After 21 years of leading safaris in Africa, I still start each day with little idea of what it will hold. 0 2 0 8003 3794 | SIMPSONEXCLUSIVE.COM 13