A quarter of the trip
Four hours a day that nobody plans for
Eleven-thirty to half past three, every day, for a week. The least-photographed and most-lived part of a safari.
Add it up: four hours a day across eight days is thirty-two hours, which is more waking time than you will spend on game drives in the same week. Almost nobody asks a single question about it before booking.
What makes it good
- Shade on your own deck, so you are not obliged to be sociable
- Water in the sun — a pool that is not in shade from two o’clock
- A breeze, which is a siting question: ridges and river frontages get one, hollows do not
- Somewhere to lie down that is not the bed — a daybed, a hammock, a shaded lounger
- A second communal space that is not the dining room, for when you do want company
- Something to read, which good camps have and you should bring anyway
What makes it bad
- A tent that heats up — canvas in full sun with no shade structure over it
- A pool that faces east and is in shade exactly when you want it
- A camp whose only communal space is the dining room, so the middle is either your tent or lunch
- A siesta you did not want, because there is nowhere else to be
Things worth doing in it
Not everything has to be rest. Depending on the camp and the land:
| Option | Where it is possible |
|---|---|
| A guided walk, late morning | Conservancies and concessions; not national parks |
| A visit to a conservation project | Where the camp supports one — ask rather than assume |
| A massage in the tent | At camps that offer it; usually better than a dedicated spa |
| Lunch somewhere out of camp | Where the camp will set it up, which is a nice thing to ask for |
| Nothing whatsoever | Everywhere, and it is frequently the right answer |
On a honeymoon specifically
The long middle is the only unstructured time in a safari day, which makes it the part of the trip that feels most like a holiday rather than an expedition.
It is worth choosing a camp for it. Ask where you would spend it, and ask what is in shade at one o’clock.
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