Watch: Shamwari’s Virtual Game Drives Help South Africans Escape to the Bush

Just because lockdown has us all isolated at home doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a little bit of the magic of travel from the comfort of your couch. Like many travel destinations across the globe, Shamwari Private Game Reserve in the Eastern Cape is under lockdown, with no guests to entertain and share the reserve with. For its animals though, it’s business as usual.

Luckily for the staff at Shamwari social distancing in the bush is a lot easier to do with so much wide open space, giving head ranger, Andrew Kearney the luxury of going about his daily business as well. He’s still getting up early to offer game drives and guided walks, but instead of just sharing what he sees with guests on his Landcruiser he’s sharing it on YouTube for the world to see.

On his own initiative and armed with just a rifle and cellphone, Kearney has, so far, posted six videos of his daily excursions around the reserve. The four-to-six-minute ‘webisodes’ showcase the magic of the bush and offer hungry travellers just enough fodder to get them through another day spent at home. While the videos are relatively short, Kearney manages to cram a wealth of information and insight into each video, making them well worth a watch.

In the series so far, you can join Andrew to learn the basics of tracking, get a masterclass on giraffes, track a pride of lions to a kill, get scarily close to elephants, make a careful downwind approach on two white rhino and outrun a leopard tortoise.

If you’re missing your Easter trip to the bush, want something interesting to pass a few lockdown minutes or are looking for a fun, educational distraction for the children, visit Shamwari Private Game Reserve’s YouTube channel to get in on all the action.

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For a taste of what you can expect, check out episode 4 below. It’s the most popular episode so far and sees Kearney track down a pride of lions after a kill: