On Safari In Suffolk

It may not boast baboons or bu alo, but the English countryside is as worthy of exploring

- Zane Henry

It’s hard to be cynical while holding a pygmy shrew. It’s small, covered in velvet-so fur and has a questing little snout like the cutest shrunken elephant you can imagine. You find yourself wanting all the universe’s moving parts to align to ensure that this little shrew’s life is constructed of interlocking cogs of joy. It’s lovely.

My cynicism was still firmly intact when the prospect of a wildlife conservation holiday in the feral outlands of Suffolk first came up. As a native South African, my understanding of wildlife is slightly different to that of the average British person, but I was curious to find out what conservation means in a Northern Hemisphere context devoid of the likes of baboons and buffalo.