The author, Mark Ross, has lived in Kenya for over 20 years. For the last 15 years, he has been a full-time safari guide and pilot taking small groups on very up-scale and up-close looks at the famous predators of Africa and rare animals like the mountain gorillas. I picked up this book because so many people had told me how much they had enjoyed photographic safaris to Africa. My wife is always asking me how safe I think it is. The title and subtitle of this book made me think that I might get a more objective view. Before long, my spine was tingling and my hair was standing on end. The dangers of safaris are more than you thought!
The book begins with the story of Mr. Ross escorting four people through a series of parks. Mr. Ross had arranged for special permission to take his group two days in a row to see the mountain gorillas in Uganda. The first day had gone well, and they were excited about the next day. Then on March 1, 1999, he and his safari group were among 31 people captured by Rwandan forces on an illegal incursion into Uganda looking for Tutsis to kill. Before the day was over, 16 were kidnapped and 10 died.
If scenes of violent death upset you, this book is probably not a good choice for you. Mr. Ross reports still having great trouble sleeping after this experience. The extreme part of the story is at the end of the book, so you could read up to that point and miss the worst.
The bulk of the book is taken up with recounting stories about individual safari experiences. Mr. Ross and most of his tourists are interested in seeing the African predators make and eat their kills. So you will hear about various ways that lions, leopards, cheetahs, hyenas, wild dogs, and crocodiles accomplish this.
On the other hand, everyone is charmed to see babies of the predators, and the book is filled with stories where the safari groups have close encounters of this sort.
Sometimes the tourists want to get close for a photograph, and Mr. Ross will use his best judgment to see if that's a good idea. When things go wrong, Mr. Ross and the tourists sometimes find themselves being chased by rampaging animals including elephants. Suddenly, they are the potential prey!
The book contains quite a lot of information about what can be seen in the various parts of East Africa, and what the conditions are like. You also get information about what it is like to be on a very exclusive safari of the sort that you may not be able to afford yourself.
My take-away is that there is a lot of danger if you go into areas near war zones, or places where tribal violence is active, or you do a lot of walking around outside of your Land Rover. Now, I think I understand why many friends have said that they prefer to go to the game parks in South Africa. Many of those issues should be less prevalent there.
On the other hand, I'm not sure how fascinated I am with seeing predators kill . . . and I know I'm not very good with a camera. Perhaps safaris aren't the thing for me after all.
Where in your life may there be hidden danger? Are you prepared for it?
"In Africa, death in an encounter with an animal is almost always the result of human error, if not folly." I also noted that Mr. Ross was badly injured as a young man in a train derailment while touring Africa. Human error can occur in many ways.
Take a balanced view of the opportunity to learn and take risks!
Donald Mitchell, co-author of The Irresistible Growth Enterprise and The 2,000 Percent Solution
