Many people watch episodes about Africa on the Discovery Channel or on National Geographic DVDs. Visiting such places as the Serengeti, the Ngorogoro Crater, and the Okavango Delta seem enticing. One can experience up-close encounters with wild game, view untouched wilderness, and escape the pressures of modern society.
            For many, visiting Africa is a dream. They may choose not to go because they view it as expensive, dangerous, or too complicated a trip to plan. Despite my extensive travel experience, I, too, viewed African travel in the same way.
            By a chance experience, I changed my perspective. After hearing Julian Harrison, the owner of Premiere Travel in Philadelphia, speak to my class one day, I choose to take my first African overland safari.
            When I first told my mother of my plans, she exclaimed, “You are going to camp in Africa! Why would you do that when you don’t even camp in the U.S.?”   
            Despite her concerns and my initial fears, I was so pleased with the experience that I took four subsequent trips. After another four years, I took two other trips, and I am currently planning to spend my summer there again. In total, I have taken nine overland safaris with three different companies.
           What I learned is that with the proper planning, an overland trip to Africa can be an affordable, safe, and exciting way to see the continent. Now even my mother agrees.