Our Bush Skills Safari

While the first-time visitor to the African bush will be content to indulge him or herself in the wonderful animal sightings to be experienced, return visitors may wish to delve deeper into this world. This will especially be true of those who have undertaken a walking safari, with its exposure to animal tracks and droppings, (dangerous) animal behaviour and so on. To meet this desire, ZambiaAway has designed a very individual ‘Survival Skills’ safari, which combines conventional game viewing and walking with a unique learning exercise.

This nine-day safari combines conventional game viewing and walking, staying at both main lodges (3 nights) and bush camps (6 nights), with daily lectures on various aspects of bush craft, tracking and survival skills, the principles learned then being put into practice in subsequent forays into the bush. This course requires a minimum of six participants, sharing two to a hut, and runs between June and October. [cont.]

The day’s format consists of an early morning game drive or walk, followed by an early lunch, a short siesta, and then an hour’s illustrated lecture by ZambiaAway’s CEO, Dr Henry Southworth, followed by a late afternoon drive or walk, sundowners and, possibly, an evening game drive. The topics covered in each lecture will be taken up and illustrated during the subsequent game drives and – in particular – walks. Exactly what takes place during these excursions is, of course, entirely dependent on what we come across in practice.

Topics covered will include:

1. Principles of animal behaviour – approaching dangerous game on foot; catastrophe theory

2. The behaviour of individual animals

3. Case studies for survival

4. Tracking 1: Spoor and dung identification

5. Tracking 2: Basic tracking skills

6. Plant identification – local medicines etc (not just ‘bush viagra’)

7. First aid in the bush; fire making & bush cuisine; finding water

8. Direction finding; navigating by the stars; GPS systems

9. Hardware: firearms handling; four wheel drives; radio communications etc.

For more information on our Bush Skills Safari, please contact us.