8

There are several important things to learn when you go on safari for the first time, and to remind yourself of on repeat visits. These include: remembering not to stand up in the vehicle when viewing animals; requesting a bathroom stop way before it becomes urgent (this maybe the most important of all); only wearing clothes in neutral earth tones (brown, beige, khaki, tan, dull green etc); and never leaving your tent at night, as animals will definitely be roaming around. At Somalisa camp I was also warned about wandering around even during the day. Apparently elephants love grazing on the Camel Thorn acacia trees among which the camp is set, so you have to be careful even going from your tent to the dining area for meals. The staff did not exaggerate: this page shows clearly how up close and personal you can get with the largest land animal

A quick shot taken over (a delicious) lunch

And here are some photos taken immediately outside my tent, where my visitor was less than 10 yards (9 m) away

It is at times like this that you remember that the animals live here; we humans don't. We are just visiting them in their homes

And this little video shows how close we were

On the left of this next photo you can see my outdoor shower. If I was using it when an elephant passed by, it would get an intimate view of me. I decided that it was prudent to use the indoor shower

Elephants can be grazing right outside the tent in the evening or at night, which is why you take great care to avoid bumping into one in the dark. Should you accidentally do so, it would react quite violently against being disturbed while snacking. Your companions would certainly be able to throw away your return air ticket