A BILLION-STAR HOTEL
F O L L O W I N G T H E W I L D E B E E S T A C R O S S TA N Z A N I A ’ S W I L D S E R E N G E T I , B Y C A R E L V E R H O E F
I awake in the northern Serengeti to
the sound of lions pacing outside my
tiny two-man tent, its paper-thin walls
doing little to shield the sound of my
racing heart.
I’ve been coming to the Serengeti
National Park for 12 years to track the
Great Migration: the two-million-strong
herd of wildebeest that moves like an
ever-rumbling thundercloud across the
African plains. Pride after pride of lions
(there are more than 2 000 lions in the
Serengeti National Park alone) follow this
mega-herd, waiting for a lone wildebeest
to split fatally off from the rest. I should
be used to these feline visitors by now;
their nocturnal visits have become a
regular occurrence over the years. Yet
every time I’m within an arm’s length of
these big cats with nothing but a piece of
62 // MAKE MEMORIES FOR LIFE
canvas between us, my heartbeat echoes
across the grasslands.
Tonight it’s just the lions, me, my little
tent and a spotty internet connection
— the perfect combination of simplicity
and intentional connection that I’ve come
to love in Africa’s wild spaces. I’m in the
midst of a yearlong research trip in the
Serengeti and, just before the big cats
arrived, I’d been thinking I’d found the
right balance between being in the wild
and dipping into the outside world when
and if I choose to.
I grew up in South Africa’s Kruger
National Park and have always felt more
at home in the bush. The unfenced plains
and unhindered wildlife bring none of the
negative energy and inconsistency I’ve
come to associate with my two-legged
counterparts. And the heightened senses
I’ve developed in nature clash with the
incessant noise of urban life.
I can’t imagine the world without the
African bush. It has been the driving force
behind my passion to connect overseas
tourists and mountaineers with Africa’s
national parks, conservation projects
and mountains. It’s why I will be climbing
seven of Africa’s mountains in seven
weeks in the world-first 7 Summits Africa
Challenge this November/December, to
raise awareness of seven causes affecting
people and animals in East Africa. There
is no replacement for the real thing, no
nature television channel that can deliver
the raw emotions I’ve experienced in
the bush.
It’s both pure joy and pain to see wildlife
– much of which is endangered – pass by,
knowing that many of these species might