First-Time Safari: Your Pre-Trip Anxiety Guide (Nothing to Fear)

If you're booking your first safari and you have questions like 'What if an animal charges?' or 'What if I get sick?' or 'What if I need a wee?' or 'What if I'm actually terrified the whole time?' — this post is for you. Because those questions are totally normal, very common (even if people aren’t asking them outright) and the answers are probably not what you're imagining.

The Questions Nobody Wants to Ask (But Everyone Thinks About)

What if a lion attacks the vehicle?

Lions in Kenyan parks and conservancies almost never attack vehicles unless they are aggressively provoked. In fact in some places lions are incredibly comfortably with vehicles and even use them for shade! That’s because lions don't see a vehicle full of people as prey — they see you as a whole obstacle, like a rock.

If you’re travelling with an ethical safari operator (and we very much hope you are) your guide will tell you to keep your limbs in the vehicle at lion sightings, not to sit on the roof and not to make loud disruptive noises around lions. This is so that they continue to see the vehicle as one unit, rather than a lot of gawking people.

In the wild, the general rule is “leave the wildlife alone and it will leave you alone.”

What if I need to wee on safari?

We get this question a lot, and it’s really understandable. Our guides are very used to being requested pee breaks on safari so never feel embarrassed to speak up.

In Kenya, though you aren’t permitted to leave your vehicle in national parks, you can often pop behind the back of the vehicle in a quite spot and in private conservancies like Ol Pejeta you can stop wherever you’d like that’s appropriate.

For the most part we’d recommend you get comfortable with a bush wee. That’s the easiest option to make sure your movements are not restricted. But, Ol Pejeta does also have a handful of toilets scattered around the conservancy so we tell our guests to just let their guide know if they prefer using a toilet, then you can plan your journey around accommodating a stop here.

Is game driving safe?

This is the safest way to experience Kenya’s wildlife and, so long as you’re in the care of a professional safari guide, you are entirely safe in your vehicle. But safety is more often than not how you feel rather than what is actually happening, so if you ever don’t feel comfortable don’t be afraid to speak up and ask your guide to put more distance between yourself and a specific animal.

What if I see something that horrifies me?

Seeing predation in the wild is intense and profound. It's can be violent and sometimes quite shocking, but it can help to remember that you’re witnessing the food chain functioning exactly as it has for millions of years — it's a moment of genuine ecological reality. Most first-time safari guests who see a kill report it as one of the highlights of their trip. If you’re not comfortable with it though, or you’re not sure you will be, it pays to have a private vehicle for your safari so you can simply ask your guide to navigate away from any sightings that you don’t want to be a part of.

The Physical Reality of Safari

Activity level: Low. You're sitting down most of the day. Game drives can involve an hour or two of active movement, but you're in a vehicle moving slowly. We provide yoga mats in all our rooms for people to move a little after their game drives, and the entire property is fenced so you can take a walk and stretch your legs this way too.

Comfort: High. At The Safari Cottages you're sleeping in a comfortable cottage with good food and hot water. You're not camping. You're not roughing it. Most tented camps in Kenya will also be extremely comfortable. Some provide hot and cold running water, some run on more basic systems - it’s worth considering your comfort levels when you choose your accommodation.

Difficulty: Minimal. There's nothing difficult about a safari (except waking up early if you like a lie in). Everything else is leisure, food, and observation.

The Emotional Reality

Most first-time safari guests report that they feel safe and well cared for and are usually taken aback by the quality of the wildlife experiences they have on a safari with us. In our experience it only takes two or three days before most guests have shifted from 'am I safe?' to 'can I stay longer?'

Your first safari doesn't have to be scary. Book your stay at Ol Pejeta Safari Cottages and let us know it's your first time. We'll structure your trip to ease your anxieties and help you fall in love with the bush.

---

More from The Safari Cottages blog