African Safari – The Vantelope Phenomenon
The Vantelope phenomenon is really quite an amazing sight to see. At any given moment, in the touristy parts of the Masai Mara, there may be a hundred or more safari vans with their tourist payloads looking for that elusive lion or the even more elusive leopard. The vastness of the landscape is hard to fathom and the ability of the animals and the vans to somehow be lost from sight is really quite hard to believe.
However, if any one van finds that elusive lion or that elusive leopard, the immediate impact is equally hard to believe. Like vultures to the kill, you can suddenly see vans showing up all over the hillsides and heading in one direction and in one direction only. If your van driver sees that he is not going in the same direction as everyone else, his driving skills are put to the test as he quietly finds a route to the target location, slowly increases speed (don’t want to lose any passengers) and joins in the focused goal to get there before the lion or leopard tires of the attention and moves out of sight.
Amazing how some drivers are able to see through hills and bushes to know where a lion is lying down among some bushes a quarter mile of so off on the other side of the valley 🙂 Such is the Vantelope phenomenon. Sometimes truly amazing.
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