By William Gray
A safari, by its very nature, can be anything but calming. Have you noticed how, on a game drive, your eyes are constantly roving the bush, latching onto any sign of movement or any shadow that might morph into something rewarding like a big cat? There’s a constant stream of new information to process from your guide; you’re worried about missing a photo opportunity and you’re feeling physically drained from continually flexing your back and legs against the bucking motion of the vehicle. Just as many people would quite rightly label all this as ‘exciting’, there’s a case, now and then, for escaping the mental and physical stimuli of a safari and seeking refuge in Africa’s empty spaces.
The sky is an obvious place to start. You can lose yourself in an African sky, your mind flitting through whispy strands of cirrus or carried away on the serried ranks of stratocumulus. Watch a single eagle or vulture pirouette on a thermal against a deep cobalt sky and you can almost fall into a trance.