‘We take photos as a return ticket to a moment otherwise gone.’ But stop. Just stop, forget about it! Yes, this quote is true with just about any other moment you experience, but not when it comes to African safaris. You cannot, you won’t and will not, ever, forget about the experience of an African safari. Photos will not act as a return ticket to a moment otherwise gone when it comes to an African safari!
The vibrant horizon is painted in splashes of revolutionary red, plum purple, opalescent orange, and of course, youthful yellow. These are only some of the colours that paint your view as you sit inside the jeep, carefully cruising by the most intricate treasure of South Africa- its wildlife.
Could you ever imagine establishing a trustful bond with a wild giraffe, to the point where you are seconds away from touching it in the vast, open savannah? No other sound but the birds in the distance, the crinkling of your feet on the dry grass, and your own shallow breathing? What about standing within half a meter’s reach, and in front of you feasts a cheetah on its prey? Your thoughts race as fast as a racing car, carefully alert as to whether or not it could jump towards you in a split second, and everything would be gone, or even being chased by a herd of African water buffalo, one of the most dangerous animals in the continent.
Well, I can say that I have experienced every single one of those moments, but it’s the one about the buffalos which I want to tell you about.
My mother is a photographer and what better scenery than the enticing landscape of South Africa for the creative eyes of photographers? Our jeep was being driven deeper and deeper into the thick luscious African bush, with nothing but tree branches brushing against our shoulders. Eventually, the trees, which enveloped us, lead to a magnificent opening at a grand pond, surrounded by African water buffalo. The next thing I knew, the door of the jeep clicked shut, and our ranger had my mother’s camera in his hand, ever so slowly, approaching the herd of water buffalo, like a lion, seconds away from prancing on his prey. My mother had asked to take a picture of them, but our ranger insisted that he do it himself because it would be too dangerous for her to exit the vehicle.
With every crinkling of the dry grass, he came closer and closer to the herd, when all of a sudden, one of the male buffalo made it clear to us that he felt threatened. Usually, in the wild, or anywhere for that matter, you are never meant to run away from an animal, ever. However, our ranger dashed back to the jeep furiously, and the engine roared on as we went in reverse. What none of us expected was, within seconds, to be surrounded and held captive by this herd of water buffalo which had obviously felt intimidated and alarmed. The buffalos behind us made it hard for us to reverse, and the ones in front of us were starting to charge toward our vehicle. The hairs on my arms were standing up, like the small upright thorns sprucing from the surrounding trees. All one could hear was the ranger breathing deeply, trying to catch his breath back. As if a miracle had just happened, an opening between the water buffalo behind us had formed, and the jeep whizzed out.
Despite having gotten ourselves in danger, there is nothing like an African Safari. It is truly one of the most memorable experiences that I will always hold close to my heart. As John Hemingway once said, “If I have ever seen magic, it has been in Africa.”
