When the girls approached me about wanting to do a “walking Safari”, I thought that this must be the first scam for outdoor adventures that I’ve come across in Africa. No way you could “walk” where Africa’s Big Five animals are….
No Way Possible.
But they were insistent, and the hotel said they had heard nothing but good things about it. What the hell, tomorrow was our last day in Zambia. I told them I would go along.
We wake up around 6am the next morning to get an early breakfast before they arrive to take us on safari. A Toyota pick up truck pulls up, with two guides, one male the other female, in the cab.
“Jambo!” I inquire as to where the three of us should sit, but the girl climbs into the pickup bed so we can fit into the cab of the truck. I feel bad for her as there is frost on the window…. but off we go.
About twenty minutes later, we pick up our tracker, then turn off the main road onto a dirt trail. No locked gate to pass through, no National Park entrance fee. We simply enter the bush of the Motherland.
The guide drives for a few more minutes, then abruptly stops as we are informed that this is where we will begin our search for the Rhino that lives in this area.
The tracker cautions us to be very quiet, then starts searching the animal scat on the ground so that we have a sense of what direction to be going. If this sounds surreal, trust me, it felt surreal!
We start hiking along, making our own trail as we go. Animals start to appear, and it is unbelievable to me how close we are to them in their own natural habitat.
As I’m enjoying the scenery around me, our tracker suddenly motions all of us to stop immediately, as he is pointing forward and up towards a large acacia tree. A mighty giraffe is staring intently at us, no more that 20 feet away.
We wait him out, then continue onward. My heart is racing uncontrollably. The Rhino scat is getting fresher, and we walk slowly and quietly forward.
Will we actually find a Rhino in the bush by tracking scat?
I’ll let you watch the video for the big reveal that happened, but trust me, it was our most satisfying breakfast ever when we were done.
