ON FOOT

As the low, rumbling growl reverberated from the bushes, we froze in our tracks, every sense on red alert. The growl—so deep and powerful that it seemed to emanate from the earth itself—wasn't a threat, really, just a reminder. “I am the king of beasts, and I stand at the top of the food chain around here. For now, I choose not to kill you—as long as you don't do anything stupid.”
We'd been tracking the pair of lions on foot in Zimbabwe's Matusadona National Park for almost an hour. And although we caught only occasional obscured glimpses of them—the closest from perhaps 200 feet away—the thrill of the chase and the adrenaline rush of our discreet encounter were something no checklist-toting game-viewers could ever experience from the safety of their minivan.

Quite simply, everything changes when you are on foot, on the animals' turf, playing by their rules. (Of course, we held the ultimate trump card in this game: a .458 Mauser rifle in the hands of Steve Carey, our hunky blond Zimbabwean safari guide. “It'll stop an elephant, “he assured us. “And the one behind him.”) Shortly after the lion encounter, we dialed down the adrenaline meter and lolled silently under an acacia tree for an hour, waiting to see what might walk by. Nothing did, but Steve suddenly jumped up and said, “I heard something. Let's go.” Ten minutes later we came upon an antelope, skin still warm to the touch, its neck crushed by a leopard—another reminder that we were puny interlopers in a land where the beasts still rule.

Our safari was organized by Graeme Lemon Walking Safaris, whose trips can be booked in the U.S. through African Portfolio (800.700.3677; www.africanportfolio.com). Cost is $210-$240 per day, plus $50 for boat transfers to and from Kariba. Accommodations are roomy tents equipped with cots.

By Sailboat

As the 15-strong herd of elephants—bulls, mamas, and babies—stood haunch-deep in the shimmering blue waters of Zimbabwe's Lake Kariba, placidly grazing the lake bottom near the shoreline, our safari vehicle approached to within a few yards. Suddenly, a big bull turned to glare menacingly at us. Did we worry? Naah.

Our safari vehicle, you see, was a 30-foot sailing catamaran. We hovered just off-shore, impervious to any pachydermatous attack save for a good hosing down, which we would have welcomed on that hot afternoon. Our three-boat flotilla of Wharram Tiki 30s—fast, stable, gaff-rigged cats that sleep six in slightly cramped quarters—spent four days cruising the remote 170-mile-long reservoir. Each night we'd pull into protected coves along a shoreline that just might shelter more large mammalslions, rhinos, zebras, buffalo, and hippos—and fewer people than any lake in the world. Although most clients sail the boats themselves, Sail Safaris owner Lance Reynolds commands the flotilla from a lead “mother ship.” Fluctuating water levels and the thickets of Daliesque dead trees make navigation tricky for newcomers, however polished their sailing skills.
Mine were definitely tarnished. Although a veteran windsurfer, I had never sailed a boat. Under Reynolds's tutelage, however, I quickly picked up the basics, and I don't doubt his claim that any weekend dinghy sailor can hand the Tiki 30 with a brief checkout. A staff captain can accompany nonsailors. But for all the fun of sailing, this trip was mainly about the animals. I've already forgotten how to furl the jib, but I'll always remember the look in that bull elephant's face.

Sailing safaris can be booked in the U.S. through African Portfolio at 800.700.3677 or www.africanportfolio.com. For a group of four, a four-day trip costs $1,825, a seven-day trip, $2,730, including meals, national park fees, and taxes.

By Mountain Bike

To become truly intimate with the animals of Africa, you must travel as they do: under your own steam. A mountain-bike safari is a great way to explore the bush, and southern Africa is the most bike-friendly of safari regions. At the Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary and the Mkhaya Game Reserve in Swaziland, a five-hour drive east of Johannesburg, I rented low-tech mountain bikes and rode with local Swazi guide on a network of good dirt trails that ranged from relaxed to technical. From my bike saddle I saw zebra, impala, giraffe, hippo, and the rare black rhino, and rode in the middle of a pack of bounding springboks. Mkhaya's accommodations are comfortable safari tents, while Mlilwane's digs are more rustic—thatched “beehive” huts and cabins.

For more creatures and comforts, head into South Africa. Faw-Mbili Game Lodge in the Thornybush Nature Reserve adjacent to renowned Kruger National Park, is a friendly, luxurious bush lodge that accommodates up to ten guests. You can take a guided walking safari in the morning, a mountain-biking tour midday, and a Land Rover safari after dinner. The terrain here consists of easy, sandy roads, and the wildlife is abundant—I rolled among the “Big Five”: lions, elephant, buffalo, leopards, and rhinos. Which means that the guides pack pistols along side their CamelBaks.
Guided mountain-bike safaris at Mlilwane cost $6.75 per hour (including bike rental), and park lodging is $5 per person per night for camping, $13 per person per night for beehive huts, and $28-$32 per person per night for cottages (including breakfast). Mkhaya accommodates groups of five or more in luxury safaris tents for $87 per person per night, including meals and safaris. Contact Big Game Parks at 011.268.404.4541; www.biggame.co.sz. Kwa-Mbili Lodges charge $113 per person per night, including all meals, bikes and guided safaris (walking, biking, and driving). Contact 011.27.15.793.2773; www.kwambaili.com.

By Canoe

Feather your paddles, sit tight, and slip past the elephants drinking at water's edge. Watch out for cruising crocodiles and the occasional loony hippo launching a high dive into the river from a steep bank while displaying a lethal set of choppers. All part of another leisurely day canoeing an idyllic stretch of the Lower Zambezi River, from Mana Pools National Park in Zimbabwe to Kanyemba on the Mozambique border.

Here in one of the richest wildlife areas of southern Africa, the Zambezi is flat and glassy and broad as a lake, bounded by waterside villages on the Zambian side and by riverine forest thick with mango trees, itala palms, and towering natal mahoganies on the Zimbabwean shore. Watch for kudus and warthogs by day, lions, leopards, and hyenas by night. Narrow, meandering side channels teem with bird life—harons, egrets, hornbills, and ibises.
Local outfitters Ruwesi Canoe Trails, Natureways, Shearwater, and Safari Par Excellence negotiate the hazards on three- to nine-day trips. You can choose your side of the river—Zambia or Zimbabwe—and your style of trip—a “fully serviced” safari (staff go ahead by truck to have tents, hot showers, and dinner ready), or a “participatory” safari (you tote the gear, help prepare meals, and help set up the tents).

The cost ranges from about $400 for a three-day drive-in, participatory trip to $1,200 for a four-day fly-in trip. Book through African Portfolio in the U.S. (800.700.3677; www.africanportfolio.com) or in Harare, Zimbabwe, (011.263.4.481117).

On Horseback

As your horse lopes across the high grassland of Malawi's Nyika Plateau, your approach is likely to flush out a clutch of roan antelope, reedbuck, zebra, or eland. Or head south toward the rocky peaks of Vitinteiza and Mwanda, where klipspringers bound like pogo sticks over stony ground. Much of the great treeless plateau in the country's far north is unlike any other landscape in Africa—bare as the Scottish moors or the rolling grasslands of Montana. It's the site of 3,000-square-kilometer Nyika National Park, Malawi's biggest, where the upland wildlife is staging a comeback after having lost numbers to local poachers and cooking pots.

There are few roads across the plateau and vehicle traffic is restricted in the park, so the best view of Nyika is from the back of one of David Foots' fine thoroughbred or Boerperde horses. Foot can tailor a trip to suit from two to six novices or experienced riders. You'll set out from the chalets of Chelinda Camp, then stop at remote safari camps (walk-in tents, bucket showers) along the North Rumphi and North Rukuru rivers. You'll cover a lot of the landscape on the seven- and ten-day trips, which cost approximately $200 per night per person, including accommodations, meals, horses, and equipment (airfare not included). Call Equitour at 800.545.0019; www.ridingtours.com.
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Horsepacking in Navajoland

Drop over the South Rim and ride along the sandy floor of Arizona’s Canyon de Chelly National Monument, where the sparse grass is studded with cactus and 800-plus-year-old Anasazi ruins cling to the wind-scoured red cliffs. Make camp among the cottonwoods at the head of adjoining Canyon del Muerto, 800 feel below the rim, and watch the last light bounce off red rocks, painting white horses pink.


You’ll tour these ancient canyons on the first portion of a three-stage horseback trek through the Navajo country of Arizona and Utah. Outfitter Hel Heaton carries the load with pickups and horse trailers, so you can leapfrog across the landscape to ride only the most spectacular country. Monument Valley on the Utah/Arizona border, the quintessential Western landscape, is the next stop for two days of riding among the towering rock spires. A two-hour road trip brings you to 10,388-foot Navajo Mountain in Utah for another two days of riding northward into the maze of canyons that comprise the Glen Canyon National Recreational Area watershed. Along the way, you’ll pitch your own tent, groom and saddle your horse, do the dishes after a hearty meat-and-potatoes meal, and scale plenty of rocks to gain sweeping views of the countryside. The coda for the trek: You’ll descend the rocky wash of Piute Creek to the San Juan River, swap your horse for a speedboat, skim the last 50 miles on Lake Powell, and return to Page, Arizona.
The eight-day trip beings and ends in Page and runs around $170 per person per day. Call Mel Heaton’s Honeymoon Trail Company (520.643.7292) or Equitour (800.545.0019).

Mojave National Preserve

The 1.6 million acres of southern California’s Mojave National Preserve embrace jagged granite peaks of 8,000 feet, sparse creosote lowlands of 1,000 feet, and, best of all, desert solitude so profound that the skittering of a fat chuckwalla lizard can startle you from deep revelry. Got in the shoulder season—late September through December—and you’ll have perfect weather for hiking, mountain biking on jeep roads, and car camping beneath huge starry skies.
Pick up a map at the preserve’s Baker Information Center (760.733.4040) on I-15, about 70 miles east of Barstow, then head south 43 miles on paved Kelbaker Road through veritable forests Joshua Tree to the turnoff for the 45-square-mile sandbox known as Kelso Dunes. Scramble up 600-plus-foot sandy peaks for a great view of the Providence Mountains and listen for an acoustic effect of the wind that sounds like a quiet timpani roll.


For solitude, clatter down any dirt road and camp for free anywhere that’s been used before (rangers can suggest spots). Two developed camps ($10), both with water and toilets, are accessible via dirt roads. In warm weather, choose 5,600-foot Mid-Hills Campground, with sites shaded by scraggly pinon and juniper groves. Hole-in-the-Wall, eight miles south, is 1,200 feet lower and several degrees warmer, and features Swiss cheese rock formations that make for easy scrambling. Forge a 21-mile mountain-biking loop between the two campgrounds: ride craggy Wild Horse Canyon Road in one directions and Black Canyon Road in the other, or hike the eight-mile trail between them.
Be sure, one hot afternoon, to head south to Mitchell Caverns in the Providence Mountains, where the stalactite-filled chambers are always cool (call 760.928.2586 for tour information). Finally, splurge for at least one night in Hotel Nipton, just northeast of the preserve. The four-room circa 1904 abode oozes quirky historical ambience, with dark tiled floors, old black-and-white photography on the walls, and a lobby brimming with desert-themed reading materials. Doubles with shared outdoor hot tubs provided front-row seats for the nighttime star show.

Utah Canyons

There are places on every map that are best visited on a whim, unfettered by careful planning. Southeastern Utah’s maze of twisting canyons and sprawling mesatops is one of them. A friend and I had no particular destination in mind, just a guiding mantra—”anywhere but Moab”—when we stumbled into a pocket of the state inexplicably overlooked by nearly everyone.
Our entry point was the shady village of Bluff on the San Juan River. It’s home to a couple of trading posts-cum-cafes and serves as the put-in for Wild Rivers Expeditions’s (800.422.7654) full- and multiday raft trips on the Class II-IV San Juan. From Bluff, we took deserted Utah 261 west about five miles north to where it began switchbacking 1,110 feet up to the top of Cedar Mesa, a sandstone escarpment with views all the way south to Monument Valley.


Here a thick pinon and juniper scrub masks the snaking canyon system of Grand Gulch Primitive Area, just west of Utah 261. A three- to four-day hike starts from the Kane Gulch Ranger Station (435.587.2141) on Utah 261 and cuts a winding, 23-mile route down Kane Gulch to Grand Gulch, up Bullet Canyon, and back to Utah 261. Pick up a $2 topo map and an $8-per-person backcountry permit (reserved by calling 435.587.1532) and check on shuttle options. Fifteen miles north of Kane Gulch is Natural Bridges National Monument, home to three massive sandstone bridges accessed via an 8.2-mile loop hike. The sole campground has 13 first-come, first-served sites ($10).
The closest thing to civilization is Fry Canyon Lodge (435.259.5334), a café/motel/general store a half hour northwest of Natural Bridge on Utah 95. While you can down lemonade and hamburgers, you can contemplate your next move on the gigantic wall map of Fry County. But don’t study it too carefully—your best approach is simply to let the byways lead you.

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