Yeah, we know, your girlfriend MADE you go see The Horse Whisperer. She nearly broke your arm, held your Wii console as ransom, so we’re sure you had no choice. But what if Robert Redford was whispering to a giant elephant or maybe lathered up his skin with barbecue sauce and chatted up a lion? We’d all go see that. (Even more so if it was Stephen Baldwin doing the whispering.)
Well, you can actually come close to seeing that with Orient-Express Safaris‘ awesome adventures through Northern Botswana in Africa. The travel company offers three different safari experiences: the Eagle Island Camp in the Okavango Delta, the Savute Elephant Camp in the Chobe Desert and the Khwai River Lodge near the Moremi Game Reserve.
So what do these trips get you that you can’t see at the zoo? Well, besides a life, they get you professional animal whisperer Anna Breytenbach, who will take you into the brush and teach you the tricks of communicating with wildlife. Your friends tired of hearing about your no-good boyfriend? Now you can chat up an elephant that’s bound to remember everything you say. Just remember, some of them are endangered, so don’t make them want to charge off a cliff, please.
You want to feel like you’ve traveled back in time without having to visit Grandpa’s house? Orient-Express environmentalist and guide Onx Manga can take you into ancient villages where Bushmen lived thousands of years ago. You’ll see rare paintings, the giant upside-down trees of the African baobab forest and visit sights otherwise inaccessible to the average traveler. You can also take a boat ride into the Delta to the traditional “Noxa Village,” where the locals retain many of the same customs as their forefathers.
Orient-Express offers travelers a chance to experience the African land from a perspective few others can offer. You will leave appreciating the conservation of the land, the traditions of its elders and even the inter-connectedness of man and animal. As cheesy as it sounds, it’s your chance to become one with nature.
And if nothing else, you can bring along that annoying coworker, lather him up in steak sauce and let nature take its course.