“Is it safe to do a walking safari?”

That is what I Googled…after I had already booked and paid for my trip to do just that. Doh!

The answer from the faceless hordes of internet opiners was a resounding “no, it isn’t safe to do a walking safari” because most of the wild animals are afraid of humans on foot, so they will have cleared out before you can get close to them. Which means…don’t expect to see much and if you do it is because you have surprised them. Never a good thing. 

I had done a bit of web surfing to try to figure out where to go on a wildlife safari after visiting the mountain gorillas in Uganda. Most of what I found online involved fancy lodges or “camping” options where the tents were elaborate structures bursting with expensive artwork, wrapped in balconies for sipping wine and draped with wispy mosquito net curtains to complete the ambiance of rugged adventure without any of the rugged.

These places offered “game viewing drives” – which means after breakfast you climb into a big 4-wheeled drive vehicle with eight other lodge guests and drive around looking at animals, returning mid-day for lunch and a relaxing massage. Wash, rinse, repeat.

I knew that wasn’t for me, so I started to explore other options. 

The travel agent we went through for the gorilla trekking connected us with the amazing Dorobo Safaris, a company in Tanzania that specializes in walking safaris and cultural tours that don’t rely on the exploitation of local communities. They offered a trip in the Serengeti for my friend John and I that involved sleeping in remote mobile tent camps by night, and walking across the savannah by day. Perfect!

There are definite pros and cons to either mode of safari – by vehicle or by foot. 

Game parks, including the Serengeti, are vast. Being in a vehicle enables you to see the greatest amount of wildlife in the shortest amount of time. The animals are largely unphased by the safari vehicles, which means you can get incredibly close.

In addition, many of the driving guides are connected by radio so they are able to tell each other where the good viewing is at any given moment. As a result, the safari vehicles can resemble vultures circling a fresh kill as they all descend on a family of snoozing lions or a leopard in a tree. This is definitely the big downside of safari by vehicle.

I think the difference between a game drive (vehicle) and a walking safari (foot) is akin to the difference between driving through the mountains and hiking in the mountains. The experiences are quite different, but both have something to offer. I spent a fair bit of time thinking about which I preferred, and in the end I’ve concluded that the contrasting experiences complement each other quite nicely and should be done in tandem if possible.

I loved the ease of being able to get close to a family of wandering elephants by vehicle…which made the challenge of getting near a bull elephant on foot (without him running off or charging at us) that much more awe-inspiring.

Watching a lioness with youngsters stalk toward our vehicle through the grass was a treat…which made catching a glimpse of a pride of lions running along the ridge-line while on foot that much more exhilarating.  

If I could only do one option, however, I’d definitely choose the walking safari.

The experience absolutely knocked my socks off. From sleeping in a tent with nothing but thin canvas between me and deadly predators…to walking seven hours a day across the savannah not knowing what sights and sounds might await us around the next clump of trees, rock outcrop or watering hole…a walking safari was everything I could have hoped for and more.

One of the things I most loved about the walking safari was the intimacy of the experience.

The pace. The sounds. The smells. The tiny little details. All things you don’t get to experience when you are bouncing around in the back of a vehicle. Below I’ve captured a few pictures to give you a flavor of what you can see on foot.

Being in camp was just as exciting as being out hiking.

Hands down, my favorite part of the trip was laying in bed at night and listening to the animal sounds.

Knowing these animals – including lions, hyenas and leopard – were seemingly just outside the tent made the prospect of getting up in the middle of the night to pee more than a little bit interesting! The protocol was to unzip the tent, scan for the reflection of eyes with your flashlight – don’t forget to check for leopards in the trees – red reflections were most likely a predator!?! If you saw eye reflections, zip the tent up, go back to bed and try again in 30 minutes. It was certainly enough to make me rethink the wisdom drinking a second beer at dinner…knowing as a result I’d have to pee few hours later!

There were several lions around the riverbed at our first camp. When they vocalized I could feel the vibrations through my body. It’s said a lion’s roar can be heard from a distance of 5 miles (8 kilometers)…so you can imagine what it is like when it is near your tent!

I tried to record the sounds at night on my camera, which isn’t ideal but it will give you an idea of what it was like. In the video clip below you’ll hear a male lion vocalizing, followed by the rest of the pride (which was further in the distance) calling back.

Imagine hearing that several times throughout the night from your tent…interspersed with the yipping of hyenas and the huffing of a leopard…and that ever growing pressure on your bladder. It’s a wonder I got any sleep at all!

Humans are, arguably, the most dangerous animals on Earth.

I’ve never gone hunting before, so this walking safari was my first experience trying to get close to a wild animal without scaring it off. It was fun to see which animals were largely indifferent to our presence, and which ones would bolt as soon as you came near.

This was my first experience being out hiking when I needed to pay attention to being downwind and using the terrain to block me from view so that I could approach wild animals. It was fun!

There were two instances where I was able to capture video of an unsuspecting animal catching our human scent (see below). Neither of them ever saw us, but they sure smelled us. The first is a warthog that was happily going about his day when he suddenly catches our scent and quickly runs back from whence he came. The second is a bull elephant that appeared out of nowhere. He was walking toward us and the wind was at our backs. We knew it was a matter of seconds before he smelled us…and then what would he do? Lucky for us (as they can be dangerous), he too decided to boogie back the way he’d come.

“Shhh. Be vewy vewy quiet, I’m hunting wabbits.” (Elmer J. Fudd)

On our second day of hiking we came upon a rock outcrop (known as “kopjes” – sounds kinda like copies) where Douglas, our guide, had seen a leopard in the past. Leopards can be quite elusive, especially when you are on foot, so the prospect of possibly getting to see one made me quite giddy.

He slowly led us around and through the rock formations, scanning for any sign of a leopard looking down on us from a ledge or a tree. “If he’s here, he’s watching us…but we won’t see him unless he wants us to,” Douglas sagely advised.

We spent about 30 minutes quietly slinking around the rocks, but our search was in vain. It was nearing lunchtime so we started to make our way toward camp. We climbed out of a small gully to catch a first glimpse of our new campsite (left side of the photo below). I started packing up my camera and binoculars, visions of the cold orange Fanta soda that was in my near future dancing through my head.

For our evening hike we decided to head back to the rocks to see if we could find the leopard. As we approached there was a hyrax calling out an alarm to let the other hyrax know that they could see a predator nearby.

We searched the rocks near where the hyrax was alarming, but couldn’t find the leopard. Eventually, we gave up and went hiking off into the distance to see what else we could see (which turned out to be the final bits of an ostrich mating dance, among other things).

We started making our way back to camp for the night, cutting across a grassy area between several large rock outcrops. Suddenly, Douglas – who was leading us in a single-file line – stopped, turned around and mouthed “leopard!”

Having a front row seat to animals interacting with one another was a treat.

The best example of this was a hyena that had just made a tasty kill.

Before long, though, he had number of unwelcome house guests who decided to stop in for a bite. Watching him grow more and more irritated at the descending scavengers…culminating with him dragging his lunch across the savannah with a line of vultures in tow…was very entertaining.

My favorite part of the whole situation was listening to James – our park ranger escort who had no doubt seen hyenas and vultures interact countless times before – giggle hysterically at the antics of the frustrated hyena. That let me know we were seeing something special (see the video below).

I won’t say my walking safari was a “once in a lifetime” experience, because I’m definitely going to do it again!

Contrary to what the Google gods told me before I embarked on this adventure, at no point did I feel like I was in any real danger. I also got to see loads of wildlife (nearly 30 different species of mammal alone). That is a testament to Douglas our guide, James our park ranger escort and the rest of the Dorobo Safaris staff that took such good care of us. With decades of experience, it seems Dorobo has perfected the art of bringing guests out into remote areas for a truly authentic wildlife experience.

Below you’ll find a couple of video compilations of my safari travels. One is of the walking safari in the Serengeti National Park, the second is of a separate day trip into Ngorongoro Crater. Further down you can scroll through a bazillion amazing pictures. Enjoy!

Pictures from my visit to Ngorongoro Crater

Pictures from the Serengeti