STA Explorer Saz has been on the classic African wildlife safari, although working as a volunteer her and other members of her team decided that they should experience the more ‘touristy’ side of their current location.

The trip was, in her words, ‘um-ed and ah-ed’ about due to price, but eventually she decided to commit to a three day and in the long run was pleased she had,

“I saw lions and elephant and giraffes (oh my!) zebra and cheetahs and buffalo. I got to wake up at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro with monkeys playing at the entrance to my tent and I visited a Masai village where we were welcome with traditional dances and blessed by witch doctors. It was by all accounts a mind blowingly good trip.”

It did however get her thinking about the conflict between the every day life she is experiencing as a volunteer and the more romantic vision that the safari created. Saz talks about the effects the current drought is having and how, although this was evident during the three day trip, it is rarely addressed. Equally on her mind was the huge variation in prices,

“Instead of bartering for reasonable prices in the local markets we were expected to pay five times as much as normal in tourists stop offs. Any attempts to speak Swahili were met with raised eyebrows and even at lunch time when we stopped off for a quick bite to eat we found ourselves being charged 700ksh for a meal I pay 50ksh for anywhere else.”

Her thoughts are insightful and interesting as ever and if you want to read them in full, including a simple tip on how to drive the cost of your safari down, click through.