Overlanding with Wildlife-Valentina Vallinotto

Overland with Wildlife

Night. We were sleeping in our RTT on the bank of the Luangwa River in Zambia when something awoke us. Leaves and sticks were falling on our roof, while all around us was the noise of broken branches.

I opened one of the tent windows, and a big long-leashed eye of an elephant looked at me in the moonlight. We looked at each other, then he kept going, eating the tree branches above us.

“What can we do?” I thought. Nothing. Just wait. After a couple of hours or so, the noise moved away, and we heard the splashing of the elephant herd crossing the river.

What did we learn from this amazing experience?

Never be an obstacle along an elephant path. We knew this safari rule. The area around us was wide, and our camp wasn’t an obstacle for them to reach the river. So we’ve never been in danger. However, we forgot the passion of elephants for the leaves and the juicy fruits of the tree we chose for shading our camp.

Overlanding with wildlife, a lot of wildlife, is pretty common in Southern and Eastern Africa. And it’s a breathtaking experience. In traditional safaris, an experienced guide drives you through the wildlife. While overlanding, you have to know and respect some rules, for your safety and the protection of wildlife and the local communities. There are rules when you’re driving, when you camp, when you look for firewood, and when you use your openair restroom.

While driving, first of all, never speed up. Roads are poorly maintained, and it’s extremely dangerous. At the same time, never drive in the dark. People walk along roads with no light, and cattle and wildlife cross and share the trail at any time.

Elephants, hippos and rhinos have always the right of passage. There is a sort of safety distance, where they are very comfortable and relaxed. These are the moments when you really enjoy driving close to these majestic creatures. At the same time, if the trail is narrow, and you can’t share the path, leaving them at the correct distance, they usually become very aggressive, and dangerous. We often had to reverse in the thick bush to leave space for elephants walking on “our” trail. Once, I was cooking dinner and a curious hippo approached our camp. We had to stay in the car until dark, waiting for him to proceed on his way. That evening we just had a quick cold meal.

Plain game, like impalas, zebras, wildebeests and zebras, often congregate in herds. It’s lovely slowly driving among them. Even more, switch off your engine and let them flow, walking around your vehicle. Cape buffaloes are another story. They are

on the list of the Big Five since they are among the most dangerous animals to be hunted by foot. They are huge. Think about the wrestlers of African wildlife, and they are used to fight with lions since they are their favorite meal. Respect them and don’t stay too close, especially at night, which in the African bush is hunting time.

African monkeys are super funny, however, they are thieves. Always keep all your stuff under control! Baboons know in the car you have food and they’ll learn how to open the doors of your car. It happened to us in the Kruger National Park (South Africa). While in Serengeti NP (Tanzania), a baboon stole a bag of biscuits from my hands! In a camp in Kruger, I made all my friends laugh while I was trying (with no success) to recover my mango from a velvet monkey.

One of the great moments in a safari experience is the encounter with the big predators. Is it dangerous to approach them? Not at all, if you’re in the car. Even in a topless rig, “game viewers,” the traditional safari vehicles. Why? First of all, because they look at you and the vehicle as a whole. A big metal, bad-smelling thing. Not interesting, since this not on their menu.

However, if you speak loudly, drive too fast, or disturb their path, they become nervous and their behavior is incredible. In the great plains, often cheetahs jump on the roof of your car to have a higher viewpoint to spot their prey. It happened to me in the Mara (Kenya). I heard a sound on the roof, looked at what was going on, and found myself face-to-face with a lovely cheetah.

By night the predators’ behavior is very different, since they hunt. And since you’re no more in the vehicle since you’re setting your camp, you have to behave accordingly.

Once, a client told me that one night a hyena visited his camp. I was smiling, since one night they “realized” a hyena visited their camp. However, hyenas visit camps almost every night! Just look at the footprints around your car in the early morning. As with bears, never leave anything outside by night; they can steal items from barbecue grills to your shoes. One night, in the arid Kalahari Desert in Botswana, a thirsty brown hyena stole our 3-gallon plastic bottle of water. I really hope she was able to crash and drink.

One other important rule with wildlife is to keep them wild. Don’t feed them, so they do not approach you looking for food. This rule is paramount with predators.

Lions roar to check their positions: “Where are you?” “I’m here. And you?” And this sound can be heard from miles away. There’s no better song than hearing the lions roar by night. This is the soundtrack of a real safari emotion!

They rarely approach a camp with a campfire by night. They are busy stalking their prey. If they do, usually, it’s because they are curious: “What is this in my land?”.It’s wise to stay close to your car or your tent, go inside, and shoot amazing pictures of this magic moment. Peter Allison, a famous safari guide and writer wrote, “Whatever You Do, Don’t Run.”

If you approach your overland in the African wildlife with these simple basic rules, this will be a once-inlifetime experience; however, you’ll become addicted. Founder and Managing director at v-adventures, a company based in Prescott AZ

Co-owner at Ndutu Safari Lodge, located in the Ngorongoro-Serengeti ecosystem, Tanzania

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