Exploring luxury safaris in Africa

A lighthearted ramble from a luxury Safari in Zanzibar

A luxury safari vacation has something very exciting about it, and if you include Zanzibar in the mix, it's virtually impossible to resist. Most people associate Zanzibar with beautiful beaches, swaying palm trees, and sunsets that make your phone camera seem inadequate. But combine that with the thrill of seeing animals up close, and you have a dish for adventure that feels both rich and exciting. To be honest, I was torn between bringing my fashionable swimsuit and my comfortable walking shoes, but then I understood the brilliance of a luxury safari: you literally have no need of selection.

A normal day on an upscale Zanzibar safari starts with the sun rising over the horizon, as if it were auditioning for a romantic comedy. On the deck of a lodge that seems more like a five-star resort than a tent in the wilderness, you might find yourself sipping a freshly brewed cup of coffee. The air smells like earth, and a little bit like citrus, and the first sounds you hear are birds you can't name and the far-off cries of animals that make you feel like you're in a David Attenborough special. I was persuaded for a time that I was going to be a wildlife whisperer until a very audacious vervet monkey snatched my lunch.

Once breakfast has been reclaimed and dignity slowly restored, the safari begins in earnest. Good news: the cars are quite comfy. You'll be sitting for hours scanning the horizon for elephants, giraffes, and the odd lion casually considering its next move. Observing like this brings a peculiar kind of awareness; you start seeing things you would usually miss, like how light reflects off the tops of acacia trees or the delicate patterns in a zebra's coat. If you don't include the adrenaline surge every time your guide whispers, "lion, 50 metres to your left," it's serene in a way that feels almost luxurious.

Lunch sometimes takes the shape of a picnic beneath a lone tree on the savannah, which seems beautiful until you realise that the "local wildlife" has excellent taste and hunger for sandwiches. Watching a warthog nonchalantly stroll past while you clumsily try to eat without spilling anything is rather humbling. Usually after lunch, there's a guided walk or maybe a dip in a pool that looks like magic carved into the landscape. It's tough not to think you're living someone else's dream, one you're not quite qualified for but secretly delighted about.

G Evenings are a leisurely trip into indulgence with cocktails made of exotic fruit and sunsets that are almost too beautiful to be real. Dinner could be a banquet of spicy curries, fresh seafood, or a jumble of foods you can't pronounce but feel drawn to Instagram. And as you lie in your luxurious bed, the sounds of the bush soothing you to sleep, it hits you that this sort of luxury is about more than simply being comfortable. It's about awareness, about seeing, about understanding that even if a cheeky monkey is planning its next move, you can still have moments that feel uniquely yours in a world full of anarchy.

Zanzibar's one-of-a-kind safari experience is a potent mix of self-discovery, adventure, and beauty. It teaches you to enjoy the little things, giggle at the unexpected ones, and sometimes, to check your sandwiches before eating them.