We’ve spent the last two days at the exotic Tawi Lodge, an ecolodge set on its own private conservancy just a short drive from Amboseli National Park. Our “elegantly rustic” cottage has views of Mount Kilimanjaro and a constant soundtrack of East African birds, hyenas and vervet monkeys. Awesome!
We’ve wanted to go on safari in Africa for as long as we can remember, so we’re a bit embarrassed to admit how unprepared we were for how FREAKING FANTASTIC this experience would be. Below, the first 9 lessons we’ve learned on safari:
1 – There are WAY more animals than expected, and they are EVERYWHERE.
I expected to spend hours tracking down the animals and was nervous we wouldn’t be able to spot the animals I wanted to see: the Big Five (lion, leopard, rhino, elephant, buffalo) and the Big Nine (the Big Five + the cheetah, zebra, giraffe and hippo). Yes, I was also surprised at who comprises the Big Five.
We hadn’t yet arrived at our lodge when we began spotting elephants, baboons, zebras and giraffes, just hanging out on the side of the road. WTH? On our first game drive at Amboseli National Park, we spotted 6 of the Big 9. Six!! There were hundreds of elephants and thousands of animals. They were everywhere! Of course, it helps when you’re travelling with the company that basically invented the luxury safari (Abercrombie & Kent) – they know where to look and make sure you’re comfortable while you’re doing it.
2 – Ostriches are quite possibly the most fabulous bird that exists.
While we are busily recording all the crazy birds we’re seeing in our East African Bird Field Guide app, nothing – and I mean NOTHING – compares to the ostrich. If you’d asked me last week how tall an ostrich is, I would have guessed they were about a metre tall (3-ish feet for my American friends). WRONG! These suckers are 2- 3 METRES tall (6-10 feet) and are one of the most fantastical things we have ever seen. They are simultaneously majestic and awkward, prehistoric and futuristic. We seriously cannot get enough of them.
3 – Elephants are still our favourite animals.
If you read our first safari blog, you know we have a penchant for elephants. The pictures and videos below speak for themselves.
4 – Zebras are all sorts of cool – and aren’t just wearing stripes because it’s fashionable.
While spotting hundreds of zebras, we’ve learned that their stripes serve to confuse lions, who love to dine on zebra meat. Because they hang out in groups, zebra stripes create an optical illusion that makes it harder for them to be tracked. Stripes: slimming + lifesaving – who knew?
5 – Hyenas are just as mean and scary as you think.
At this point, these are definitely my least favourite African animals. They are ugly and equally effective at scavenging and hunting, so everybody is afraid of them, including me.
6 – Giraffes are bloody incredible.
They don’t just look good – they can kill a lion with a single kick of their front or back legs. Also, they only sleep 35 minutes a day.
7 – We still haven’t figured out how to tell these guys apart.
Impala? Gazelle? Antelope? Reedbuck? Gerenuk? Deer? We love them all.
8. Cats don’t just rule the internet and Tiktok – they rule the African savannah too.
We were fortunate to spot a family of cheetahs on our first game drive – see below for proof. We also saw a pride of lions sunning themselves and another pride napping with their cubs. Meow!
But nothing prepared us for what we saw on Day 2: a pair of lions chilling near a bunch of hippos. That alone is a sight to see, given that hippos are normally prey for lions. While one of the lions was lunching on an antelope/gazelle/impala, one of the big hippos decide to challenge him and succeeded in chasing him away. Booyah! Take that king of the savannah!
But the story doesn’t end there as a whole secondary subplot developed when a hyena decided to steal the lion’s snack. There was a chase, the involvement of a second hyena who ran off with the leg of the initial kill and dozens of hippo eyes rising out of the water to watch. We will never forget what we saw today.
9 – A long-lens camera is critical gear while on safari.
While our iPhones take great close-up HDR photos and videos, we bought a Nikon mirrorless Coolpix P1000 camera for this trip. There are strict weight restrictions on internal planes in East Africa (33 pounds including camera gear/tech/purse/carry-on luggage), so it’s tempting to simply rely on your phone – that would be a mistake. The hybrid cameras are the best of both worlds.
We’ve seen and experienced so many things during our first two days on safari – we can’t possibly capture it all in one blog. Stay tuned!
