A Saddled Safari
The idea of trekking through the Okavango for ten days and enduring the dangers of wild animals is one thing, but to do so on a horse is well… evocative to say the least. I had been looking forward to this experience, but now – standing on a remote, dusty airstrip, and watching the plane that brought us from Livingstone disappear back to civilisation – I wondered if I had perhaps been a little too hasty in taking up this opportunity!
This is crazy, I thought. After all, who in their right mind plunges into the bush on a flighty and unpredictable animal that could so easily become fair game? Did I have the riding ability to outrun a pack of wild dogs, should the need arise; or remain in my saddle if my mount shied in front of a snorting phalanx of buffalo? I resigned myself, however, to the fact that it was now too late to back out. At least it would be a good way to die.
My doubts were soon somewhat laid to rest, however, when we met our guide and our trusty mounts. Each horse is carefully chosen to match the experience and temperament of the rider. Experienced riders are given faster, bolder horses, while less experienced riders are given docile, “bomb-proof” mounts. The weight limit of the riders is also taken into consideration because there are “those situations” where the horse needs to be nimble and fleet of foot. “Those situations,” it was explained, can occur and a comprehensive briefing on the “what ifs” of horse riding in the Okavango Swamps followed. For example, what if we stumble upon a lion? Or what if we come across a herd of elephant, or hippos, or crocs?
It was the stock answer to all of these “what ifs” that really had me trembling in my jodhpurs, though. “Try to stay in the saddle and be prepared for the horse to bolt and gallop out of trouble,” replied our guide with a wry smile. But he wasn’t taking any chances either. He had a .375 rifle slung over his shoulder and several “thunder-flashes” in his saddlebag which could be deployed to hopefully persuade a charging bull elephant to think twice! Before I could come up with a legitimate excuse to stay behind in camp, everyone was astride their mounts, and there was nothing left to do but swing myself into the saddle and follow the herd into the heart of the African wilderness.
As we got going, however, my fear soon changed to wonder. I was completely unprepared for the view from the lofty vantage point of a horse. The view from horseback is that much higher than from a regular 4×4, making it so much easier to spot game. Unlike mechanised vehicles, horses are also fairly quiet and appear “natural” to their wild cousins, despite having a human plonked squarely on their backs. Most animals rely heavily on smell and less on eyesight, and therefore a horse’s musky odour can easily override ours and make it possible for us to get relatively close to wild animals. This soon became evident when we quietly ambled right up to some giraffe. Our horses paid them no heed and they in turn barely gave us a nod.
A little later we ran into a herd of zebra and we all broke into a canter. What a sight! Horses and riders interspersed with their striped counterparts, cantering alongside each other. I felt as if I could literally reach out and slap a zebra on its rump. “Yeehah!” I yelled instead. The moment was unbelievably invigorating and seemed to last an eternity, when finally the zebra banked away and we slowed to a trot, broad white smiles on the dusty faces of each rider.
The most exhilarating moment came when we encountered a massive herd of buffalo. Caught in the open in front of a thick wall of bovine flesh would normally spell disaster, but the buffalo too paid barely any attention to us, and we were able to ride alongside them for an hour, sometimes within a few metres of the herd. The noise of a hundred or so animals was deafening. But our adventures were not over – not by a long shot. Lions tracked us, but luckily they were overly cautious towards the strange looking zebra-things. We swam with our horses across crocodile infested rivers, with the hippos snorting downstream at our bravery. On one particular day, we were even charged by a lone elephant. He did not take kindly to us interrupting his bath. It was a mock charge, but our horses spun and bolted for a short distance. It was one of those aforementioned “what ifs”, and we came through it with flying colours.
Our evenings under bright, starry skies were filled with revelry. Each day’s adventures were revisited and deconstructed, the wine flowed, the hyenas cackled. This was the right stuff and without doubt, the Rolls Royce of African safaris.
For more information on Okavango Horse Safaris, contact +267 686 1671, email safaris@okavangohorse.com or visit http://www.okavangohorse.com/.
Story & Pix © Adam Cruise
