In this episode, Vivian McCarthy of Acacia Adventure Tours, tells us all you need to know ahead of taking your first safari trip to Africa. Plus, he shares exciting news that teenagers (16+) can now join any of Acacia's safari trips for the first time. Ideal for a multi-generational family adventure.

Get ready to embark on an unforgettable safari adventure as we dive into the enchanting world of African wildlife with Vivian McCarthy of Acacia Adventure Holidays. This episode highlights the exciting news that teenagers as young as 16 can now join in on the safari experience alongside their parents, making it a fantastic family getaway option! We’ll explore what a traditional safari entails, from thrilling game drives in iconic parks like Kruger and Maasai Mara to the rich cultural experiences that await you. Whether you’re a first-timer or a seasoned traveler, we’ll unpack all the essentials, including what to expect, how to prepare, and the unique delights of African landscapes and wildlife. So, if you're itching to know more about how to bring your family into the wild, buckle up for some great tips and stories that will surely ignite your wanderlust!

This is Destination Unlocked with me, Daniel Everett, just now ready to depart.

Please make sure your seat belt is my fast and do make yourself comfortable.

Hello.

Welcome back to Destination Unlocked, where today we're going on safari.

I've never been on a safari, so I had lots of questions for Vivian McCarthy, who runs Acacia Adventure Holidays and knows a huge amount about safaris and other adventure holidays to Africa.

He's been running these for over three decades.

We're going to talk animals, we'll talk logistics, we'll talk expectations, and also we'll talk about bringing your teenagers on a safari.

Because this year Vivian has opened up his main safari options for teenagers as young as 16.

So if it's something you want to bring the family on, it is now an option.

I hope you find this conversation interesting.

And if you are eyeing up your first safari, I hope it answers all of those questions that might be on the tip of your tongue.

Enjoy.

Hi, Vivian, what are you unlocking for us today?

We're unlocking the possibility of teenagers coming for safaris and tours to Africa.

This is something which will surprise some people and others will be surprised in the opposite direction.

So some people are going to be surprised that you couldn't bring teenagers on a safari and others will be surprised that you now can.

So why don't we just set the scene fully and then we'll reintroduce the teenagers to it.

Traditionally, what does a safari entail?

A safari, I suppose in its purest sense is wildlife searching, sometimes called game driving in national parks, looking for and searching and usually finding different types of wildlife.

Elephant, lion, giraffe.

That's the heart of it.

Now, I think for most people, it broadens a little bit.

Reoperate tours from three or four days up to eight or nine weeks.

So in that time, the actual game safari is a part, a very important part, but it's only a part.

The tour will involve traveling from, let's say, the airport, overnight accommodation, going on tour for two, three days or several weeks, and during that time having a visit to the national park, for instance, Kruger national park in South Africa, or the Maso Mara in Kenya, where you are game driving.

But there's a lot else besides the scenery.

There's beaches, there's items of cultural interest, as you would if you're touring any other destination.

But Africa has that unique aspect of wildlife, which is the focus.

The wildlife for sure is the thing that comes to mind for me.

I was very surprised when you said about beaches.

Well, I can't not mention beaches when we're talking about Africa, especially on the eastern side.

Kenya and Tanzania, Indian Ocean beaches, Durban.

Very warm water.

It's a real treat to anyone who lives in the northern latitudes to get into seawater.

And it's almost body temperature.

It's one of life's ultimate pleasures.

But I don't think that would be what everybody goes to Africa for.

But it's a part of it which comes in.

There are always surprises with Africa.

Africa's one of those unusual continents at this point in time for.

For travel because it seems to split the market and avoid the middle.

You've got these uber luxury options and some extremely expensive safari retreats.

Gorgeous stuff.

And then you've got the other end of travel, which is much more budget.

You seem to not have so much in the middle, or at least that's the general representation in the uk.

Well, you're certainly right at the top end.

You've got some gorgeous properties and they really.

They really are something else.

But most of our clients are not really wanting to spend quite so much money on accommodations.

And actually there is a middle, I suppose traditionally you had the very top end and then you had the budget camping and not much in between.

Actually, over recent years there's been a growth in the sort of two, three star accommodations, four star accommodations which can be comfortable, secure and provide that middle level that you're looking for.

So that tourism has broadened.

But I will say this, that Africa is not bulk tourism, if I can put it that way.

You don't get.

And it doesn't have the infrastructure to cater for thousands upon thousands of visitors, except for one or two places.

But that's certainly not what I think people would think of as safari.

And that's a blessing because when you're going on safari, especially if it is the animals that drew you there, to be blocked out by crowds is a terrible experience.

That's called a zoo.

That's not what you're going for on a safari.

You're going to be in the animal's home.

And animals don't actually generally like humans.

Good point.

They tend to stay away from us.

They're more frightened of us than we are of them.

And that's obviously right.

You don't want lots and lots and lots of people crowding out game parks.

But there's two things to think about.

First of all tourism has to be managed like many other facilities or assets.

But the other thing is the size of these national parks.

I mean, the Kruger in South Africa is enormous.

The comparison often made is it's about the size of Wales and so it takes a number of people to go in there before you start noticing too many people.

And that's not the only one.

Other parks are of a similar size or comparable.

So that's one thing.

Wildlife tourism has to be managed in an appropriate way.

And I think most of the countries, especially on the eastern side and southern part of Africa, which is where we focus on, do that to a pretty good level.

You mentioned that a lot more people are now asking about bringing teens 16 and up.

Where do you think this came from?

Because for me, I first thought about safaris as a honeymoon holiday.

This is my theory.

We get quite a lot of people who toured in Africa as singles, as I did in the 80s and 90s, who now have gotten on a little bit in life and they've got children who are no longer children but young adults.

And opening up our age group from 16 gives them the freedom to consider Africa as a possible holiday destination.

It's very different Africa.

I mean, perhaps one advantage is it takes them away from their comfort zone in many ways.

Away from perhaps reliance on their phone.

Not entirely.

There is signal in Africa and many of the properties have WI fi and all the rest of it.

But it's not a complete reliance.

And I think that would be from a parent's point of view, an advantage.

Absolutely.

It brings families really back together.

The phones are interrupting so many relationships.

If you're going to have that conversation with your teenager and you've not been on safari before, what sort of conversation starter should you be having?

What should be on the list of discussion points to decide if it's right for your family?

You're selling the experience?

I think so, yes.

Chance, we're going to see animals that's going to be a part of it, safari side game driving.

But it's the experience of traveling to what we used to call a developing part of the world.

And you do, you know, experience the different sights and sounds of being in a completely different part of the world, well out of Europe, and the pleasures and sometimes little pains that go with that.

So, you know, first of all, Africa is a long way off.

Kenya is roughly an eight hour flight.

South Africa is roughly an 11 hour flight.

But it's almost straight down the time zones.

You're not traveling across the time zones.

And this is very important.

With things like jet lag and tiredness following the flight.

Many flights to Africa are overnight.

You go along to the airport toward the end of the day or the evening and you wake up and you're in Cape Town or Johannesburg or Nairobi.

And so, you know, you don't have this huge adjustment of time which you get with some destinations.

Now that's a matter of luck with us living in the uk, Europe, but it's a big one I think.

And for those people who want to, who want to go a little bit beyond Britain and Europe, then Africa is a very real prospect.

And especially southern Africa, your money goes quite a long way.

I think in the end budget comes at some point, you can't ignore it.

And to be fair, I think that's an important thing too.

Because spending money, souvenirs, drinks, you know, these are factors that in the end of the day have to be taken into account.

And certainly southern Africa, coming with pounds or euros, you in a good place.

If you're looking at your budget and thinking I really would love to do a safari, I have typically thought it's out of my reach.

But if my money's going to stretch further, maybe it's not.

How much would you say people end up spending as a rough day to day or meals and maybe a couple.

Of souvenirs depending on the itinerary.

We generally recommend people budget on around about 20 or $30 a day depending on, you know, do they smoke, do they like to drink, do they want to spend a lot of money on gifts for people at home, do they want to do things like white water rafting, bungee jumping, zip lining, scenic flights?

Because these things in some places are a big attraction.

Victoria Falls for instance, is very well known.

Now apart from the fact it's wonderful waterfalls, there's all manner of adrenaline raising activities available.

So taking into account those sorts of things, if someone's doing a one week safari, let's say from Pretoria to Victoria Falls, and wouldn't be unusual for them to have a day or two after a safari at Victoria Falls, perhaps a day or two before it starts, you know, so you need to allow for these sorts of things.

You could always bring money home.

It used to be back when I started that you had to advise people on taking quite a lot more cash than you would use to be carrying around in your pocket simply because credit cards weren't particularly well accepted back then.

Nowadays all that's fine now.

Most people can get by when using the cards as long as it's a well known brand Picking up the bill when it comes in a month later.

Yeah.

I must say, anytime I've been to Africa, I've not even taken money out before I went.

I just went to an ATM and put my card in and took out local cash as I needed it.

Though you do need to keep an eye on the fees that the ATMs will charge.

So it is good to do it in sort of one lump transaction rather than lots of bitty transactions.

Yes, you have to have a little bit of thought about.

You are, after all, traveling, and that's one of the advantages of being on tour.

Your tour guide can't tell you exactly what you're going to spend, but he or she can certainly give you some advice as to, well, look, we've got another day or two.

You're going to perhaps buy your own lunch tomorrow, opportunity for going out another time.

So he or she can give you a guide and that can be helpful.

So if you're going to do a safari on a tour, what is the complete role of that tour guide?

They're staying with you at the various places.

Do you do daily briefings?

Yes.

Typically what happens is the guide who travels with you throughout will be effectively your escort through.

So help you with borders, give you some information about areas you're traveling through, a bit of background on the country, more or less depending on the interest, and be your guy who's going to help you manage your holiday, whether it's a private holiday, just your family or a couple, or whether it's a larger group.

When it comes to any bookings that need to be done on the ground, he or she will do that.

When it comes to game driving in Kruger or anywhere else, we almost always use specialized safari vehicles with their own driver guide.

And these are people who drive in their game parks every day and who are really expert at not only wildlife that there is to see, where to find it, and anything you want to know about the fluorophora, they are the driver guides on safari.

Your tour guide doesn't have that level of expertise, but he's got a more generalized knowledge.

And so they're both crucial.

And for somebody who's thinking of doing this for the first time, you hear about these specialized vehicles, you've got this expert guide.

You're in the back of this truck going through wilderness or going up to a drinking hole and seeing what comes.

What is the etiquette?

Who are you with around you at that point?

Do you have to be dressed up like you're a bush?

What are the Sort of things that really you ought to know as a first timer.

I think the big thing is being quiet when you're in the vehicle because you know the animals don't like noise.

So if you're at a water hole waiting for elephant or impala to come to drink, everyone has to keep quiet and just wait and a bit of patience and be ready for an early start.

Because most game viewings, the best time to be doing them is early, early in the morning.

So what often happens is you wake up very early, 5ish, so that as soon as the dawn comes, you're in the vehicle, ready to go and off you go.

And sometimes you come back to camp two or three hours later, have a late breakfast.

So it kind of changes your daily routine a little bit.

But the reward is that's the time when the predators are hunting and where you're more likely to see active animals than during the middle of the day when it's too hot.

The other time is toward the end of the day.

So around sunset when it's cooled down again, animals tend to be more active then in the noontime, in the middle of the day.

Depending on your safari, that might be a time when you're relaxing at camp or in the lodge, hotel, reading or sitting by the pool or whatever it is.

In southern Africa particularly, the open vehicle is very popular.

So on safari you're in a six or nine seater, open to the sides and it really adds to the immediacy of the experience.

People love it, people love it, but it's nice to be warm.

It can be remarkably cold first thing in the morning in parts of Africa.

So your guide is going to say, well, safari tomorrow, up early, don't forget sun hat, don't forget your sunglasses.

Make sure you're warm.

Layers are good because once the sun comes up, after an hour or so it get hot.

You can peel off your sweater.

It sounds very common sense once you've done it, but for someone on a first time, that's important.

And cameras these days, phones, if your phone is on silent, that's the best plan.

You don't want anyone's game viewing experience interrupted by an unexpected call.

Yes, that would be very frustrating, especially if it put off some approaching animal.

But the open sided one, my goodness, it adds a level of trepidation to it, the fact that you can smell them but they can smell you.

And yet staying in the vehicle, you're perfectly safe.

There's not a safety issue here.

Stay still, don't stand up, don't put your Hands out to try and pet any animal that might come close.

Remember, these are wild animals, they're not pets.

And obviously you don't get out of the vehicle that's in most parts.

Now, there are other parks where getting out of the vehicle, going on foot, is a definite part of the experience.

In Zimbabwe, Matopos national park is known for its rhino, what we call white rhino, and they can be seen and approached on foot with a guide.

And that is an amazing experience because as great as game viewing in a vehicle is, game viewing when you're on foot brings a whole new level of experience.

I'm not talking about long walks.

I'm Talking about perhaps 20 minutes, half an hour, depending on what's around.

Naturally, it has to be safe, and that's what the guide is there to do.

Not every park will allow it.

Parks where there's a great number of predators obviously don't, but other parks do allow it.

And how do the safari camps stay safe from predators at these early times of morning when the predators are out on the prowl?

The animals know better than you think.

They know what to avoid, and human presence is one of them.

Typically, some of the camps and lodges have fences, but others don't.

It's not common, but it does happen that wildlife will come through a camp.

Elephant have been known to walk through camp and not, not to do anything.

But if they want to go from A to B and the camp happens to be in the way and you're an elephant, then there's not much that's going to stop you.

And it's an awesome experience, too.

I mean, the instructions there are, all the advice there is just sit still, don't make any noise.

Elephants only coming to walk by, it's not going to hurt you, and just let it go.

That's an awesome experience.

Safety and looking after yourself.

To be honest, the risk comes much, much smaller.

Mosquitoes.

Now, we all know about malaria.

It's something to be careful about when traveling to Africa.

But there's tablets available.

Speak to your doctor or travel clinic, explain where you're traveling to.

And our suggestion is you take the advice given.

Typically, there's tablets and there's different types of.

But also use mosquito repellent.

Bit of common sense.

Long socks, boots in the evening, shoes in the evening.

It's all manageable even without the malaria.

Just an insect bite is irritating enough.

So I would definitely do what I can to repel them better than having to deal with the itching of those bites afterwards.

Oh, I'm a Magnet for mosquitoes and I tend to get bitten anywhere but use repellents, perhaps some calamine lotion if you get bitten, just to keep that itching down.

And yes, malaria is obviously the ultimate because it's a very serious disease.

So you need to take precautions before you go.

You mentioned that you first ended up in Africa in sort of the 80s 90s, sort of time exploring what brought you there.

Because originally you're from New Zealand.

Yes, I am.

I came to the UK 40 years ago, roughly for an overseas experience, as we called it there, and got involved in the travel industry and just fell in love with it.

In those days, popular was a tour across from the UK all the way down to Johannesburg.

Took about six months and that was a.

That was an awesome experience and that was quite the thing to do back then.

I remember very clearly the end of the trip, there was a group of us getting off in Johannesburg and we traveled to Cape Town and wanted about Cape Town and did this and did that.

By that time I'd had enough of traveling and I came back to Britain, got my job back, which happened to be in the travel industry.

And a short while after we did promotion evenings with visiting operators would come along and show slides, do you remember, slides up on the wall.

And they'd give a chat.

And the slide evening on this occasion was about Africa.

And I looked at that, I was standing at the back and we had people waiting and listening and watching and the questions came and went and I just thought, I have to get back there.

And luckily for me, companies were expanding and I got a job and worked as a tour guide for two or three years and then.

And then eventually came back to the UK and got involved in the office side of things.

So I've been involved with Africa for nearly getting on for 40 years, with no intention previously of doing so.

For me, it really did get under my skin in a good way.

And I think that's not so uncommon because we do have people coming back again, including with families.

And that's part of what we've been started talking about.

Anyone who's traveled knows that, oh my God, there's just too many places, not enough time.

For me.

It really focused on Africa and I just fell in love with it and still am.

It's one of those things you just don't get over.

I think you're right in saying that's not uncommon.

I find that Africa is the continent which does that the most powerfully for people.

And it's so interesting because so many people say that they weren't expecting it.

And yet then you hear so many stories which follow that very similar thread of I wasn't expecting it, I went there for the first time, it just got me hooked.

And now I can't separate myself from it.

It must be something very special about that place.

The place is magic.

For all its issues, political problems, health issues, malaria.

Oh, many of them over many years.

There's something that just grabs you and it's not just the animals, it's the scenery, it's the people.

And the people are amazing and they're not all the same.

It sounds terrible.

If you think of Europe, superimpose Europe over Africa or Africa over Europe and know the difference between someone from Finland and someone from Greece, we can see the difference.

Or from Scotland and Greece in Africa, you've got a much, much wider physical distance and cultural difference between someone in Kenya and someone in South Africa.

Shouldn't be surprising, but it was to me.

Yeah, I think people forget or overlook the huge diversity of Africa.

It is one of those continents where, unlike, as you say, Europe, yes, I suppose people talk about being European, but not in the same way as people would refer to African.

And yet north to south, east to west, there is, there is huge variation in.

It seems to me that you focused your travels and certainly your work in the southeast corner of Africa.

What made that so special?

I would say Kenya and Uganda down to South Africa.

So the southern bit and the eastern side, what made it special really?

I think it's certainly for a British market or an English speaking market.

The colonial power there, for good or ill, was Britain.

So the language that most people speak there, at least one of the languages that, that most people speak there is English.

They also speak their own tribal language in Kenya.

Swahili is the, is the lingua franca.

That's the main language there, Kenya and Tanzania.

But English is a second and often in business, it's both.

Most Kenyans I know will speak Swahili, they'll speak English.

They'll also speak their own tribal language.

Sometimes more than one.

These people are carrying three or four languages.

They're able to converse in.

Well, I struggle to converse in English.

It really puts me into place as to.

In terms of educational achievement.

I was lucky enough to go to university.

Many of those people were not.

And yet it's not about smartness or intelligence.

They're easily capable.

It's about opportunity.

There's 11 official languages in South Africa, in Kenya, there's two or three English and Swahili, but there's something like 60 or 70 different tribal groups inside the one country.

Of course the countries are colonial borders, we understand that.

But nevertheless, that's an enormous variety of people living in one country.

There's social problems and there's all sorts of problems that Africa has come through.

But it's happened to have happened quickly.

It's not long and they've all come through quickly.

Had to develop.

It's.

It's an amazing process really and I think young people, the teens and families will see that.

Well, this is an amazing experience.

So let's talk about Acacia Adventure Holidays then and what is on offer as various options.

Your website is acacia then a-then africa.com and clearly you are specializing very much in Africa.

What sort of things do you get up to?

We've been running for around about 30 years, since the 90s.

We do tours from three or four days, for instance Johannesburg out to Kruger National park three or four days or Nairobi to the Maasai Mara about the same time up to nine weeks.

So Cape Town to Nairobi would be a nine week trip including various game parks, guerrilla treks and so on.

And we've been running these trips pretty much every two weeks all year round.

The best part of 30 years.

We have a small team in South Africa and also Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe and here in the uk and a very good team of colleagues and suppliers and partners and that's enabled us to produce tours, safaris running all year round for a variety of times and locations.

Before COVID we were mainly known for our age group of 20s through to 40s.

Since COVID we've noticed a change in the diversity demand to an older group or a broader group.

So from 20s to 50s and 60s as well as a demand for people saying can we bring our teenagers?

The demographic has broadened and largely since.

COVID and the teenager element of it.

They're on special tours or they're on any tour.

If you go through the list on the website, could you pick from anything?

Pretty much anything.

We do need them to come with one or both parents.

It's not like they're on their own, but they can do practically any trip.

And we do have other tours.

We call them small groups meeting maximum of 12 people where we take younger children.

So 8, 9, 10, they're very family friendly.

The maximum of those is two weeks and they run every two weeks.

In fact, they run every week during the high season.

The more popular time flicking through your.

Website, the Adventure Camping tours and the Adventure Accommodated two tours.

Obviously the Accommodated tour is going to be in a lodge or a camp where it's permanently set up.

Camping.

You're actually under your own tents.

Is there a big difference between those two tours?

Do you have to be much more physically adventurous and fit and able to do the adventure camping one?

No, not at all.

Effectively, we travel together.

So the accommodated typically it's rooms simple but twin share en suites on the same property or neighboring property so that we do all the activities together.

These trips have a maximum of 18 people, but will sometimes go with as few as four or five, six.

And there may be in the group some people who are camping and others who are accommodated.

We eat together, we do game drives, everything together.

The difference is that when we go to bed, the campers go to their tents and that's equipment that we provide.

And those who are accommodated go to their rooms.

It's all closed.

We're traveling as a group, we do everything as a group.

It's just some want to pay a little bit extra and have the comfort and not have to bother with tents.

But if I could express an opinion for someone going first go camping, it's brilliant.

It's a real experience.

And on your second trip, well then you can decide if you want to treat yourself to a touch of luxury or treat yourself.

Yeah, yeah.

Other trips are accommodated fully, just as enjoyable, but everyone's doing the same accommodations.

So given that the camping accommodation and the permanent accommodation tour is sort of combined apart from the sleeping time, would it be possible?

Let's say I'm a family of four and two are saying I really want to go for the full adventure, I want to go camping.

And the other two are saying, I love the idea of safari, but I'm not going in a tent.

Would it be possible?

Sounds like mum and dad, doesn't it?

Yes.

There's no reason why that shouldn't happen.

In fact it does sometimes.

And what's food like on campus?

Oh, much better than you think I've had, including when I was a tour guide.

People think I came to Africa to lose weight and yet here I am.

We've had meals, we've eaten better on safari than I do at home.

That's perhaps an exaggeration, but honestly, people are delighted by what we serve up.

So typically on an adventure tour, breakfast will be fairly short and quick and lunch May be similar, but salads and bread or something simple and the main meal will be in the end.

The tour guides do all the leading and cooking.

We do ask people on those trips anyway to be ready to take a share and help with little jobs and duties.

It's nothing big.

It does make a big difference to how it ends up though.

And sometimes people like to help go shopping.

We're going to shop now with a group and we're going to the market.

The guide is going, can someone help?

And that in itself can be an experience.

Oh yeah, I'd be first.

Hands up on that.

That's fantastic.

Yeah, exactly.

Yeah.

So the food is not something you need to worry about.

If people have got vegetarian diets or some restriction gluten free, for instance, we can cater for that too.

A question which might not be so pleasant, I don't know.

But for somebody who's never been on a safari before, might be something that they're a little concerned about.

How does the toilet work?

Oh, well, we stay in the evenings in proper camping sites and if they're unaccommodated they've got an ensuite bathroom.

If they're camping, then there's bathroom toilet blocks just you would have in a campsite.

They're fine.

There's nothing.

Can I put it this way?

It's western style, not Middle Eastern style.

If I can.

You're not squatting a pick and they're not squatting.

So that perhaps assists.

But you do raise a point there though.

Someone who wants to travel on their own more than welcome.

These tours are in many ways designed for people to travel on their own, book on their own accommodations on a twin share basis.

So we would ask them to share with another passenger of the same sex and on we go.

And it's not difficult and it's a great way to meet people and make friends and honestly, lasting relationships.

If we don't happen to have another solo passenger of the same sex, then that person gets her own tent or his own room.

So it's nothing to worry about.

Many ways these tours are designed for people to come along the road and I would say in terms of the mix we get, we don't really police it, but the majority at the moment anyway in the last year or two has been slightly majority of women over men.

There are so many solo traveler women.

Yeah.

So you mentioned Victoria Falls a couple of times and I can see why.

It's absolutely spectacular.

What would be your go to itinerary?

You want a bit of safari?

Of course.

In it.

But maybe you want to either start or end in spectacular destination.

What would be your go to option?

If you've got a week I would do a trip which starts in South Africa, Johannesburg or we start from Pretoria which is Johannesburg's neighbor, shares the same international airport.

We go out to Kruger National Park.

We have two nights there which is one full day in Kruger.

We then drive up to Zimbabwe and visit a place called Bulawayo which is a town nearby.

National park is called Matobo National Park.

That's where I was talking about walking in search of rhino.

And then we drive up to Victoria Falls and we're there on day five.

And there's all sorts of things to do at the falls.

Prime amongst is actually to see Victoria Falls.

That would be to me an awesome experience.

Two well known national parks, Kruger is probably the best known in Southern Africa but also a lesser known one, Matobo and Victoria Falls itself.

That's a good one week safari.

If you've got a bit longer and have got three weeks then I would suggest starting in Cape Town, doing a three week trip which ends at Victoria Falls, goes through Namibia.

You've got those dunes, those massive dunes that you've probably seen pictures of beautiful clean desert landscape.

Namibia and into Botswana, Chobe national park to the Zambezi river and Victoria falls.

That's a three week trip, immensely popular.

And if you had two weeks I would say start in Nairobi, do a 13 day trip which visits the Masai Mara national park, the Serengeti national park, the Ngorongoro Crater which is right next to Serengeti and finishes in Zanzibar.

The wrap up roundup Quickfire finish is.

Now ready for boarding.

What would you say is the top thing to see or do on safari?

I'd have to say Victoria Falls.

It's not safari game viewing.

Although there are game national parks on both sides of the the river.

You can do a cruise above the falls with dinner or with just snacks and drinks.

Where both sides of the river are national park and you can see elephant, buffalo, sometimes hippo or croc on the Zambezi and then you've got the Victoria Falls themselves which are an amazing sight, especially in the early part of the year.

What would you say is a tourist trap to avoid on safari?

I'm not sure that I can think of one.

There are times when parks highlights can be popular but there's a reason that they're popular and the and the reason is that they're worth visiting.

So I'm not sure if I can Answer tourist trip.

Africa is not a bulk travel market, except perhaps some of the Kenyan beaches in July and August attract, you know, the sort of the package tourists coming from Europe.

That's perhaps where I'd not go in the holiday time.

I don't want to criticize it.

I've been to these hotels and resorts and they're gorgeous.

But I think it's times to avoid.

Talking of times, what is your favorite time to visit?

Oh, anytime in the second half of the year for game viewing and generally climate.

It's the northern summer, the southern winter, but it's dry and generally conditions are better for traveling, generally better for game viewing.

Broadly speaking, July and August tends to be very popular.

That's partly because of the holiday season.

So if I was going, perhaps I'd make it September or June.

Or I might go in March or April and particularly to Victoria Falls where the water levels are huge.

Zambezi rises a lot.

And February, March, the water is awesome power.

Later on in the year, the river lows just through seasonal changes and the volume of water going across the falls is much less.

A good rainy season does mean good waterfalls.

Do you have any book recommendations or a good film to watch if you're getting in the mood for this?

I've read books about, especially in East Africa, how the colonials lived there.

Elspeth Huckley wrote a series of books about her life growing up in the first part of the 20th century.

The flame Trees of Thika was the most popular one, and she's a great writer.

And there's another lady there, Beryl Markham, who wrote a book called west with the Night.

It's an autobiography.

She was a pilot in East Africa and it's about her life growing up.

Well, the first part of the book is about her life growing up in Africa.

That's a great one.

When I was at school, we had to read a book called Cry the Beloved country by Alan Paton, and that was about South Africa and the apartheid era.

Now when I was at school, I really didn't get the story at all.

After I'd been to Africa, I reread the book and had me in tears.

Amazingly well written.

It's a wonderful novel.

What would you say is the top food or drink that people just must try when they're there?

Well, there's two things remembering South Africa has a very good wine industry.

It's worth saying without stressing the alcohol side of things here.

We did start this conversation off with 16 and 17 year olds, but I will say quickly that Every country in Africa has got its own beer.

Some have got several and most of them are really good.

But the other thing about southern Africa especially is the braai barbecue.

If you like steak and meat than anywhere in South Africa.

For the braai and barbecue, there's a place in Victoria Falls.

I've just got to mention it's a place called Dusty Road and it's a Zimbabwe establishment run by a Zimbabwe lady.

It's set actually not in Victoria Falls, but in a township nearby called Chino Timber, which is where most of the people who work in Victoria Falls live.

And it's an amazing restaurant, local food, vegetarian option, beans, vegetables, different types of meat.

It's an amazingly well run female empowerment and for most people, an experience of going into a township and having something to eat.

It's brilliant.

And my final question, if you want to take home a really great but authentic souvenir from a safari trip to Africa, what sort of thing could you be looking out for?

I bought souvenirs myself, particularly in East Africa.

Wooden carvings, ebony, wood carvings.

Now, I'm not saying they're necessarily great pieces of art, but they were carved locally and you can get plenty of them in markets.

When I bought them, they meant something to me and they, you know, were amazing.

I still have them on the shelf in Southern Africa.

Zimbabwe, you've got stoneware.

Some of it's very high value, but I'm talking about, you know, souvenir stuff that you buy for a relatively small amount, I would say for me, ebony wood in East Africa and stoneware in Zimbabwe.

Many of the markets you go there will have craft work from everywhere and there's some nice jewelry to be had.

Not necessarily high priced, locally made.

For me, if you as the buyer like it, that's authentic for you and it will be a keepsake and it will make you think of where you've been.

It's embedded into a memory.

Vivian McCarthy of Acacia Adventure Holidays, thank you so much for unlocking safaris for us and introducing that to teenagers and families.

Families.

It's been a great pleasure.

Thank you.

Well, thank you once again to Vivian McCarthy of Acacia Adventure Holidays.

Hopefully lots of your first time safari questions answered in that conversation and very exciting news.

If you've got a 16 or 17 year old in the family who's wanted to go out on a proper safari safari trip, looks like they now can.

Before you head off today, do make sure that you are following the Destination Unlocked podcast wherever you are currently listening to this episode.

That way you'll be able to find us again nice and easily.

The next time you want to go armchair traveling somewhere.

Wonderful.

I'll see you there.

Bye.

Bye.