When plotting my first safari, I scoffed at the idea that people regularly take time afterwards to ‘relax’ at the beach. What could possibly be un-relaxing about being treated like a pampered toddler, getting chauffeured about to look at animals, every meal planned and catered for you?
After a series of pre-dawn starts, hyperstimulation and days of rattling around in a safari vehicle, I began to get the picture, so it was pretty special to try things at a different pace on one of Sanctuary Swala Camp’s new canoe safaris at Tarangire National Park. Paddling around a lake in the early evening, almost silent to catch elephants, wildebeest and zebra unawares as they took their last drink of the day, was utterly peaceful — until we got wedged against a tree and looked up into the branches to discover coiled up pythons mere inches above our heads.
