The Grown-Up Travel Podcast

Mark Neely had never been to Africa before.Two weeks later, we sat down in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, on the morning he flew home, and I asked him what he really thought.This is a different kind of episode: not a scripted safari guide, not a lodge review, and not a polished testimonial. It’s a real conversation at the end of a real trip through Botswana and Zimbabwe.Mark talks about his first impressions, rhinos at Grasslands, the Okavango Delta, lions, a giraffe kill in the middle of the road, elephants walking through camp at Saguni, a mobile safari in Chobe, bucket showers, the Chobe River, Victoria Falls, and whether the whole thing was worth it.His final verdict was simple: he was really glad he did it.Recorded on location in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, June 2026.Planning an African safari? Here’s how I can help:https://grownuptravel.co/contact

Planning an African safari? Here’s how I can help: https://grownuptravel.co/contactPrivate conservancy. Game reserve. Eco-reserve. Wildlife sanctuary. These terms appear throughout safari marketing - and they can mean very different things. At one end: one of the most significant conservation models Africa has produced. At the other: a fenced enclosure where a captive lion eats meat handed to it by a guard.I’ve experienced both. This episode explains exactly what the difference is - and how to make sure you’re getting the real thing.I’ve been going back to Africa for over 30 years. The majority of the trips I arrange use the conservancy model or its equivalent. This episode is about one of the things I care most about.Andy Higgs is the Campfire Connoisseur - a safari specialist with over 30 years of personal experience in Africa, and a simple belief: honest expertise, warmly delivered, beats polished marketing every time.The Grown-Up Travel Company: https://grownuptravel.co

Planning an African safari? Here’s how I can help: https://grownuptravel.co/contactAfrica is life in 4K.That's a slightly ridiculous thing to say. But it's also the most accurate description I've found in 30 years of going back.This episode is about why so many modern holidays have started to feel strangely similar, why screens and routine have dulled some of what travel used to give us, and why Africa still has the power to reset something.Not because it’s perfect. Not because it’s easy to explain. But because it is vivid, physical, human, unpredictable and real.I'm Andy Higgs, the Campfire Connoisseur. I've been going back to Africa for over 30 years. This episode is about why.

Planning an African safari? Here's how I can help: https://grownuptravel.co/contactKenya or Tanzania — which one should you choose for your safari? It's the most common question in African safari research. And it's almost always the wrong question.In this episode I explain why anyone who gives you a confident answer to that question either doesn't know enough, or has a vested interest in your choice — including the confident strangers on travel forums and the blog articles buried under affiliate links. Then I explain what the right question actually is, and what genuinely determines which country is right for you.I've been exploring Africa for over 30 years. Kenya and Tanzania are among the countries I know best. This episode gives you the honest answer.Andy Higgs is the Campfire Connoisseur — a safari specialist with over 30 years of personal experience in Africa, and a simple belief: honest expertise, warmly delivered, beats polished marketing every time.The Grown-Up Travel Company: https://grownuptravel.co

Safari pricing is confusing. The range is enormous — from a few hundred dollars a night to several thousand — and the relationship between what you pay and what you experience is rarely what people assume.In this episode I explain exactly why safaris cost what they do, and more importantly, what that money is actually buying. The answer surprises most people.I've stayed in the most expensive camps on the continent and the most remote ones. I've seen what the money buys — and what it doesn't. Cost, material luxury, and the quality of your wildlife experience are three completely separate things. This episode untangles them.If you're trying to work out whether a safari is worth the price — or which price point actually makes sense for what you want — this is the honest answer.Andy Higgs is the Campfire Connoisseur — honest safari expertise, warmly delivered.

Most people who go on an African safari have a genuinely good time. They get close to lions. They take great photos. They come home happy.But some of them — if they're honest — sensed that something was slightly off. The convoy of vehicles at every sighting. The feeling of being one of many rather than one of few. The quiet thought, never quite voiced, that maybe there was a version of this that was different.There is. And in this episode I explain what it is, why nobody told you about it at the booking stage, and what to ask before you spend serious money on your next trip.I've been going to Africa for over 30 years. I've been in the main reserves with twenty vehicles around one lion. I've been in private conservancies with no other human in sight for three hours. I know the difference. This episode explains it.Andy Higgs is the Campfire Connoisseur — honest safari expertise, warmly delivered.