Comments (0) Best Hemingway Adventure Without the Dysentery - 2002

Safari West

For those desiring the Africa of great fiction, where the landscape is rife with wild beasts and pomegranate-hued sunsets but made comfortable with full tea service, fresh linens, and warm beds, this is your safari. For the price of a nice dinner, you can climb onto the rooftop of a dusty but dependable truck driven by a well-informed naturalist, who will guide you, for three hours, over 500 square acres teeming with the wildlife of Kenya, Botswana, and Zimbabwe. Since the touring trucks are never used for veterinary visits, the animals -- free-roaming herds of addax, lechwe, eland, aoudad, wildebeest, waterbuck, Watusi cattle, and zebra, to name a few -- are rarely startled by the approach; some of them, including the ostriches, are even curious enough to nibble at your hat. Back at headquarters, you can have iced tea with the parrots and a giant hopping Indian hornbill named Delilah, or feed the giraffes and visit the warthogs, servals, ruffed lemurs, porcupines, and open-air aviary. Those staying the night will be led to an elegant African safari "tent" with hardwood floors, a bathroom, a shower, electric blankets, and a breathtaking view. As the sounds of the savanna lull you to sleep (or wake you with a heart-pounding start), you can prepare for a sunrise walk with a bird expert or anticipate a morning visit from a baby cheetah and her Hemingway-esque caretaker. And there are few experiences in this world that compare to eating breakfast in bed while watching the morning ritual of crowned cranes and giraffes through the flaps in your tent walls.