“I am married to a world renowned, now retired military photojournalist, Jeremy Lock, which means we travel quite extensively and frequently to remote places for him to cover a story such as a piece on an indigenous tribe, or to photograph incredible aerials of topography that is rarely seen by travelers in the same way. He has an eye. We prefer a more laid-back and off the beaten path approach to traveling that allows for us to experience, learn and immerse ourselves in a culture among the native peoples. This year we had planned to take what would be my 17th or 18th trip to Africa, to spend time on an overland trip in Botswana.
Previously, I had vacationed at Little Vumbura and Selinda luxury camps in Botswana, but in the last 5 years we met a guide named Jaco van der Westhuizen with African Days Safaris in Namibia that has become a close family friend and has taken us on amazing camping overland trips, which we much prefer to luxury campsites. He picks us up at the airport in Windhoek, and then we drive to various locations and camp when we feel like it. The advantage to this is location, location, location!
We set up camp in a remote area and let nature and wildlife unfold all around us. That means a den of lions next to our tent or a hyena circling our leftover dinner at night, or even making sure no hippos or elephants are in close proximity when we exit the tents. That also requires staying in our tent all night for safety. If we must use the bathroom then it’s a coffee can!
This type of African safari is a true safari. Each day is a new adventure, and the sights and experiences from the gorgeous African sunsets to paving your own path away from a park or other people is exhilarating and exciting. Jaco is quite the chef, so we always have a delicious dinner when we stop to camp and if the truck gets stuck in the mud we get out and push. We figure things out. It is a blast. If a few weeks of camping gets to be too much for me, then Jaco calls a luxury camp and gets us a room for a night, but that only happened once in the several years we have been camping. This is how we enjoy our favorite travel destination, Africa…one country at a time” - D’Andra Simmons
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Photos: Jeremy Lock