Game drive [1] or sometimes also written gamedrive [2] is a word which is based on two words, namely game and drive. The word game refers to animals that are not domesticated, the so-called wildlife. The word drive refers to a drive with a vehicle.
A game drive is usually part of a safari, a trip or a journey. It can be carried out with own cars like in national parks or game reserves, or it can be a guided tour in specially for that purpose adapted off-road vehicles led by a professional safari guide. Those 4 × 4 game viewing vehicles are designed to allow a safer trip for tourists. On farms and lodges however, a game drive is an adventure that entails viewing wildlife in an off-road car, always accompanied by safari guides or the farmer himself, who will explain the animal's behavior and interpret the bush.[ citation needed ]
Guided game drives mostly take place in the early morning, late afternoon or in the evening, because most animals are more active during cooler times of the day.
Maasai Mara, also sometimes spelled Masai Mara and locally known simply as The Mara, is a large national game reserve in Narok, Kenya, contiguous with the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. It is named in honor of the Maasai people, the ancestral inhabitants of the area, who migrated to the area from the Nile Basin. Their description of the area when looked at from afar: "Mara" means "spotted" in the local Maasai language, due to the many short bushy trees which dot the landscape.
A sport utility vehicle or SUV is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive.
Driving is the controlled operation and movement of a vehicle, including cars, motorcycles, trucks, buses, and bicycles. Permission to drive on public highways is granted based on a set of conditions being met and drivers are required to follow the established road and traffic laws in the location they are driving. The word driving, has etymology dating back to the 15th century and has developed as what driving has encompassed has changed from working animals in the 15th to automobiles in the 1800s. Driving skills have also developed since the 15th century with physical, mental and safety skills being required to drive. This evolution of the skills required to drive have been accompanied by the introduction of driving laws which relate to not only the driver but the driveability of a car.
A safari is an overland journey to observe wild animals, especially in eastern or southern Africa. The so-called "Big Five" game animals of Africa – lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant, and Cape buffalo – particularly form an important part of the safari market, both for wildlife viewing and big-game hunting.
Roadkill is an animal or animals that have been struck and killed by drivers of motor vehicles on highways. Wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVC) have increasingly been the topic of academic research to understand the causes, and how it can be mitigated.
An off-road vehicle, sometimes referred to as an overland or adventure vehicle, is considered to be any type of vehicle which is capable of driving on and off paved or gravel surface. It is generally characterized by having large tires with deep, open treads, a flexible suspension, or even caterpillar tracks. Other vehicles that do not travel on public streets or highways are generally termed off-highway vehicles, including tractors, forklifts, cranes, backhoes, bulldozers, and golf carts.
Shooting brake is a car body style which originated in the 1890s as a horse-drawn wagon used to transport shooting parties with their equipment and game.
Amboseli National Park, formerly Maasai Amboseli Game Reserve, is a national park in Kajiado South Constituency in Kajiado County, Kenya. The park is 39,206 ha (392.06 km2) in size at the core of an 8,000 km2 (3,100 sq mi) ecosystem that spreads across the Kenya-Tanzania border. The local people are mainly Maasai, but people from other parts of the country have settled there attracted by the successful tourist-driven economy and intensive agriculture along the system of swamps that makes this low-rainfall area, average 350 mm (14 in), one of the best wildlife-viewing experiences in the world with 400 species of birds including water birds like pelicans, kingfishers, crakes, hamerkop and 47 raptor species.
Knowsley Safari is a safari park and tourist attraction near Prescot, England. It is a member of the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA) and the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA). It contributes to conservation and research through links with conservation projects and its links with universities in nearby Liverpool, as well as Chester and Manchester.
Kilimanjaro Safaris is a safari attraction at Disney's Animal Kingdom on the Walt Disney World Resort property in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. It simulates an open-sided safari ride through the savanna of East Africa.
Wildlife Safari is a safari park in Winston, Oregon, United States. It is home to hundreds of animals that wander freely over the 615-acre (249 ha) park, which guests can drive through. The park also includes a walkthrough exhibit displaying some of the park's smaller animals. It has Oregon's first and maybe only African elephants and maned wolves as of 2021.
Safari Off Road Adventure is a safari attraction currently operating at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson Township, New Jersey. It replaced the former Six Flags Wild Safari drive-through safari park, which closed on September 30, 2012 in order for it to become its own standalone ride experience.
A safari park, sometimes known as a wildlife park, is a zoo-like commercial drive-in tourist attraction where visitors can drive their own vehicles or ride in vehicles provided by the facility to observe freely roaming animals.
Lion Country Safari is a drive-through safari park and walk-through amusement park located on over 600 acres in Loxahatchee, in Palm Beach County, Florida. Founded in 1967, it claims to be the first 'cageless zoo' in the United States.
Skukuza, located 57 km east of Hazyview at the confluence of the N'waswitshaka and Sabie Rivers in Mpumalanga, is the administrative headquarters of the Kruger National Park. It is also the largest rest camp of the park. It is South Africa's number one game viewing destination and is the most popular game reserve in the country. It is popular with domestic and foreign tourists alike, as the big five game are in relative abundance when compared to other game reserves in the country. A tourist in Skukuza may not have to go out looking for Africa's big five, as these animals could potentially be observed from the deck of the Cattle Baron restaurant. Lions, leopards, and cheetahs regularly kill their prey on the green lawns of Skukuza's golf course or cricket club. The game reserve is situated in a medium rainfall area, on the well-wooded banks of the Sabie and N'waswitshaka rivers of Mpumalanga Province.
Tourism in Kenya is the second-largest source of foreign exchange revenue, following agriculture. The Kenya Tourism Board is responsible for maintaining information pertaining to tourism in Kenya.
Top Gear: Botswana Special is a full-length, special edition episode for BBC motoring programme Top Gear, and was first broadcast on BBC Two on 4 November 2007, as part of the fourth episode of Series 10. The special sees hosts, Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, travelling across to Botswana with a car that each had bought in Africa for less than £1500, to prove that they can be better than SUVs for driving up "leafy country lanes". The Botswana Special was released as part of a 2-disc DVD boxset alongside the Top Gear: Vietnam Special on 23 March 2009.
Planète Sauvage is a zoological park situated in the French Atlantic coast, in Port-Saint-Père near Nantes, in the Loire-Atlantique departement. Founded in 1992 by Monique and Dany Laurent and known as the Safari Africain until 1998, it was then operated by the Compagnie des Alpes between 2005 and 2015. Since that date the park has been the property of the multinational company Looping Group, whose main shareholder is a Belgian private equity fund of the Groupe Bruxelles Lambert. Its director is Philippe Vignaud.
Roadkill cuisine is preparing and eating roadkill, animals hit by vehicles and found along roads.
Taman Safari Indonesia or simply Taman Safari are animal theme parks in Cisarua, Prigen, and Bali. Being part of the same organization, they are known as Taman Safari I, II and III. The most popular is Taman Safari I.
Media related to Game drives at Wikimedia Commons