Examining animal dung and termite mounds at 8am was not exactly what I expected to be doing on my second morning in Tanzania. But spying the Big Five in the wild is really only a small aspect of being on safari. Understanding how the whole ecosystem functions, and how everything in the environment is interconnected, is vital to the experience. Especially when your guide can launch into a half-hour discourse on the fascinating, intricate, complicated lifespan of a termite mound; the mating habits of impala and dik-diks; dung in all its shapes, sizes and forms, and the importance of its role in the germination of seeds.
Our walking safari that morning alerted our senses to a richer African bush experience — one where you slow down, sharpen your focus, and understand that there’s beauty in the small things. And that’s what our cover story this month explores. From fly-camping in the Serengeti in Tanzania, to hot air ballooning above the Maasai Mara in Kenya and wildlife-watching from a hide in Zambia’s South Luangwa National Park, we celebrate the slow safari. Because when you ditch the jeep your perception really changes.