South Africa Safari Survival | From an Expert Guide

Today I’m going to hand over the reins and let Pete Brooker from Human Research talk about his time in South Africa. With South Africa being on my mind of late after the Rugby World Cup, I wanted to know more about the country and get some travel tips.

This will be one of a trilogy of posts. You can follow Pete on Instagram to follow his journey and ask him any questions if you’re interested.

I spent 48 hours in Addo Wildlife park, South Africa. Along the way I got to interrogate my guide Paul and from him extrapolated some survival tactics in the unlikely event that I’d come face to face with apex predators.

LEOPARD – These are more dangerous than a lion. When you’re out on Safari a Leopard will climb in your window and into your car. If you’re up against a Leopard you should never run. Never run, you won’t stand a chance. A leopard will scratch you to death starting with your scalp.

Imagine a Leopard like a man with a grenade launcher. The closer you are to a Leopard the greater your chances. A Leopard will mess you up but I know of a ranger that strangled a leopard to death once. You need to be in close, hopefully you’ll have a knife and try and keep those claws away from your head.

LION – Lions normally have no interest in you. With the rare exception, Lions will leave you alone. I’ve had lions outside my tent one night in Botswana. They circled the tent, I petrified. I had just finished reading the book about the Lions that killed those people in Botswana, they made it into a film called The Ghost and the Darkness. That pair showed very unusual hunting habits.

They went into the train carriages where the workmen slept and dragged them out and ate them. Terrifying. A Lion will go for your neck. If you’re up against a lion the only chance you have is to stick your hand in its mouth to stop it from getting at your neck. It won’t claw you as bad as a Leopard will. With luck you’ll have your knife on you and you’ll be able to stab it in the heart.

ELEPHANTS – You won’t outrun an elephant. The most common way for people to die via elephant is by a broken pelvis. An elephant will run you over. There is a book on survival called Don’t Run. If you’re in a car and a herd of elephants encircle you, make sure you stay very still. Have your key in the ignition, but don’t turn on your car. You might startle the elephant.

CROCODILE – This is the most dangerous of all the big 5. A crocodile will actively hunt you. All these other Apex predators are either opportunist, just looking after their territory or protecting their young. A crocodile will actively hunt you and you won’t see it coming. I’d be amazed if you got in a tussle with a crocodile, because you’d be near the water’s edge, fishing, or in the water itself. You’re only chance is to gauge a crocodile’s eyes, but that’s presuming they haven’t already gotten you in a death roll or bitten your hand off already.

Remember in South Africa you also get sharks in rivers. Bull sharks are the only sharks that can survive in both salt and fresh water. Meaning they can make their way up the estuaries and into the rivers and lagoons.

HONEY BADGERS – Nasty animal. These Honey Badgers sound like a Winnie the Pooh invention but are the stuff of nightmares. They go for your nuts. If you come across a Honey Badger be sure to give it a wide berth. Walk entirely in the other direction and under no circumstances attempt to befriend one.

SNAKES – We have a lot of snakes in South Africa. The Puff Adder is the most common. The other is a Mozambique Spitting Cobra. That carries both toxins and will kill you in 2 hours if not treated.

I was bitten by one in a hotel once. It sprung out from under the bed. Luckily it only bit me and didn’t inject any venom. That’s another thing. If you make it to the hospital in time, AND if they have the anti-venom, they’ll treat the symptoms and not the wound. If you don’t have venom in your system, the Anti-venom could kill you.

What to look out for, yes symptoms. Raspatory failure, deep sweats, and you’ll feel like sh*t. It’s painful. I’d try and ensure you always have power on your phone, you might need to phone ahead and make sure the nearby hospitals have the anti-venom. Because they have a sell by date they might not have stock.

Charcoal won’t help as that goes to your stomach, not into your blood where the venom is circulating.

You can also check out Pete’s travel blog, Human Research, and his latest guide to Cape Town here.