THE SILENT SAFARI
AN ELECTRIC EXPERIENCE IN KENYA
Clean, green, and serene: e-vehicles are changing how we explore the bush, transforming safari into the truly tranquil experience
We're gliding across a meadow of sun-ripened grass in the smoothest safari vehicle I've ever experienced. Suddenly, there's a thundering of hooves to our right. A 30-strong herd of buffalo is heading straight for us.
Uncertainty chokes me. Buffalo can be dangerous, but it's usually grumpy lone bulls that cause problems. What's provoked them? Could it be our electric vehicle? The elephants here in Kenya's Lewa Wildlife Conservancy took a while to get used to it when it first arrived less than three years ago. Is it emitting some kind of high frequency note that only buffalo can hear?
Gorgeous but pricey, electric safari vehicles (ESVS) remain rare in Africa's safari heartlands, with just a handful of operators trialling them. In Kenya, Botswana and Zambia, there are signs they'll catch on. But when I told a guide from South Africa that I was visiting Lewa's founding lodge, Lewa Wilderness, to sample an ESV firsthand, he scoffed. What if you get into trouble? he said. At the first sign an animal might charge my vehicle, I rev my engine to make a big, loud noise. What happens if you can't do that?
Perhaps I'm about to find out. The buffalo are getting close, the thunder rising to a roar. But, as it turns out, it's not our vehicle that's spooking them. A lion! says Frances Mayetu, my guide, gripping the steering wheel as the herd swerves past and the lioness comes into view - until now, she was invisible in the grass.
This story is from the July/August 2022 edition of National Geographic Traveller (UK).
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This story is from the July/August 2022 edition of National Geographic Traveller (UK).
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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