Category: Africa

It’s experiences like these that keep the blood flowing and ensure that you empty your wallet with repeat visits to Africa…

a) We have seen two cheetah kills. The first was a grown cub of one of the cheetahs which featured on the BBC’s Big Cat Diary. We watched her catch and kill a deer right before our very eyes. The second, was a mother cheetah and two cubs catching and killing a baby foal. The mother used it as an opportunity to teach the cubs how to hunt. They kept letting the foal escape and then catching it again. It was gruesome, but a true reminder of the circle of life.

b) We’ve witnessed the Great Migration in Kenya. We arrived at a river just in time to see hundreds and hundreds of wildebeest plough across the water, being attacked and drowned by huge crocodiles that would lurk under the water and attack at random. I think I screamed several times and barely drew breath the whole time we watch the spectacle, but it was incredible. You could sense the fear in the herd. They’d edge to the riverside and as the pressure would build and build from the hundreds of animals arriving at the scene, the animal at the front would be forced to either leap into the water or leap backwards, either way it’d cause mass hysteria and the scene would be shrouded by a wall of dust as the herds kicked up sand in all directions and splashes exploded from the water as the crocodiles leapt in to attack.

After the herds left we watched the crocodiles recover the carcasses of the wildebeest from holes in the riverbank (they’d use the river as a refrigerator) and rip the bodies to pieces and eat them. They cannot tear flesh, so they would grab the carcass in their jaws and turn themselves round and round in the water to rip the dead wildebeest to pieces. 

c) A baby bat (a tiny wee thing) got into our hut in South Africa. We worked with the ranger to try and catch it to release it. It was so small and disorientated it could not fly and kept running around our floor like a distressed mouse. We spent an hour trying to safely catch it – but in the process accidentally killed the animal.  It was heartbreaking, so upsetting and went against all we stand for and care about. It was a shocking reminder of our power on the planet and our responsibility to use it correctly.

Photos from our Kenyan safari are available in our TarajiBlue photo gallery. 

When on safari, you spend half your time desperately hoping to see animals, but when they get close (and I mean really close), panic takes over and you’d give anything to lock your windows and close your eyes….but your adrenaline kicks in and you have to live the moment. Here’s some our 3 favourite heart stopping moments from Africa…

a)    On our last night in South Africa we were sitting outside our tent in the pitch black watching a lightning storm rage over the African bush. We sat in silence, watching, listening, when we heard scuffling to our right. Switching the torch on we illuminated a honeybager, who’d snuck right up the steps to our tent and was cheekily trying to shuffle by us to get to our bins to eat our scraps. Honeybadgers are nocturnal and elusive creatures. In our three previous trips to Africa we’d never seen one. They are also very ferocious and fearless, so you can only imagine how fast my heart was pounding! The tourchlight scared him off – but he returned twice that night at around 3am with his lady friend, waking us by overturning our bins. We found out the next morning that their set was right under our tent!

b)    We have seen a safari vehicle get in-between an elephant mother and her calf – the mother reared up and trumpeted, signalling that she was about to charge the vehicle to get to her baby. The calf was crying – I have never heard a noise like it. It was heart breaking, and a firm reminder that they are the true bosses of the bush! Elephants are the one animals you should always keep the car engine running for – you never know when you’ll need a quick get-away. They are stunningly beautiful but incredibly dangerous.

c) In Kenya, we visited an animal rehabilitation centre and stepped into a pen with three adult cheetahs – we got to stroke (and hug) them! This was somewhat silly and is not to be recommended! The adrenaline got the better of us, and the zoo keeper  was only too keen to allow it. This kind of interaction should NEVER be attempted in the wild.

Photos from our Kenyan safaris are available in our TarajiBlue Kenya gallery.

I have recently been asked to assist a student by sharing some of our travel experiences to help her with a college project.  The result being that I have spent a good two hours this evening re-living some of my most favourite travel memories and experiences from my most beloved destination…Africa.  I cannot think of a nicer way to spend a snowy Saturday, housebound evening.

I will be sharing some of these reflections via our Taraji Blue blog over the weeks to come, in the hope of whisking us all away from this British Winter into a far more exotic and alluring destination.

I hope you enjoy the journey…watch this space.