WILD AT HEART Lions and elephants and giraffes, oh my! Michael Kallenbach explores the wild wilderness of the Tanzanian Serengeti on horseback
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t was our first morning riding to the Explore camp and we had been up since the crack of dawn. Here we were, now in the middle of the Serengeti plains, not far from the banks of the Grumeti River, and we had already begun to ache. By lunchtime, we needed a break; our joints, not used to the fast cantering alongside the giraffe, elephants and topi, were sore – yet the horses were fit and ready to go on all day. We dismounted and then suddenly our grooms were there to lead the horses to water and feed. We plonked ourselves in luxurious khaki chairs allowing the spring sunshine to fall on our faces. There were four riders in our group – Sophy, Eve, Lucinda and myself. I had been on several riding holidays in
Africa before so, while I thought I knew what to expect, I never imagined such luxury and comfort would come my way.
There’s also a whistle next to our bed in case a lion appears Lucinda, the weakest rider in our group, quickly decided that she wasn’t up to the fast pace of the horses. Instead, she opted to go by lorry and sat in the comfort of a Jeep as she viewed the game, while one of the back-up guides had little difficulty in leading her horse alongside his.
The mobile tents at Explore had been set up prior to our arrival, where an array of dainty tea cakes were waiting for us – similar to those exquisite creations served at Fortnum and Mason – and drinks of cranberry juice mixed with ginger ale. We were given a typically warm South African greeting by Julius Schuld, the manager of the camp, and Ian Boucher, chef extraordinaire. Originally from Cape Town, Ian is the first to admit that he is ‘dead scared’ of lions and hopes they never come near his tent at night. But despite this phobia, at mealtimes he is fearless, proudly announcing what he has prepared for dinner and always using locally grown ingredients. For instance, he explains, ‘You will get carrot soup, but not with caviar.’ It was hard to imagine anyone in our group expecting
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