Want to go on a live safari? You can! Right there from your home....

Do you want to know what it is like to go on safari?  Or perhaps you are a teacher and would like your students to experience nature at its best.  Nat Geo Wild will take you on a safari; a safari anyone can afford.  Breaking the boundaries of television and entertainment Nat Geo – I discovered a few weeks ago – is streaming live from the Greater Kruger National Park twice a day putting you in the backseat of a safari vehicle driven and narrated by knowledgeable and entertaining guides.  Yes – the greater Kruger National Park in South Africa, a place I know so well and love so much. 

This is as real as it gets folks.  For three hours twice a day – morning and evening South Africa time - you are in the back of the safari vehicle riding down dusty trails looking for whatever may present itself.  It’s not edited.  What you see is what you see.  The highlight of the drive – as true as if you were right there on safari – may simply be a herd of impala and lots of beautiful birds.  Or you may see the rare wild dog make a kill, experience an elephant charge your vehicle, watch a wildebeest give birth and more.  Just like truly being on safari you never know what you will see when you get in your vehicle each and every time. 

Marc Weiner - One of the great guides.  He's truly reMARCable!

And just like a real safari you can ask the guides questions they may answer live.  You ask your question by sending an email or a tweet.  These emails and tweets go to a guy in Final Control who relays them to the driver/guide via an earpiece.  Imagine you are watching four male lion waking from their day long slumber soon to go hunt for their evening meal.  You, or your student wants to know why there are no female lion in this group.  You send an email or tweet with the question then hear the guide say, “Dana from Atlanta, Georgia wants to know why there are no females in the group,” then he answers your question live from the other side of the world.  Remarkable!

The other day I had my IPad streaming the sunset safari while working when one of the guides came upon a small herd of elephant.  The guide called the matriarch of the herd a granny.  The next thing he, and all of us watching, saw was that “granny” elephant charge the open safari vehicle crashing into it.  The live feed was cut; I am not sure if it was intentional or due to the force of which the vehicle and thusly the camera were jolted by this massive animal.  When the feed came back up the guide and cameraman were shaking as I was because I felt like I was right there in the vehicle with them.  The guide and cameraman showed us the two holes where the elephants tusks pierced their safari vehicle.  With nervous laughter the guide suggested the elephant didn’t like being called Granny. 

The times of the safaris are not always conducive to watching from here in the States.  But if you find the time, you need to check it out.  I write about it only now because the safaris were to end as the month of January ended however, the live safaris have been extended for at least another two weeks and hopefully beyond. 

Want to see what it is like to be on a safari?  Tune in at www.wildsafarilive.com.