The 'normal' way for tourists to encounter African game is from the relative safety of a vehicle. For reasons I don't understand, in a vehicle one can approach very close to most animals, including lions, without them being at all bothered, though the same is not as true of elephant and, in particular, rhino.
The people who run safaris are divided into two tribes, the wa-LandRover and the wa-LandCruiser. The simple version of what is now called the Land Rover Defender has been a staple of safari companies for decades: it's rugged, its engineering is pretty basic so it can be easily repaired, and...
....it will go practically anywhere, though to drive up and down dunes the tyres are deflated to about half normal pressure.
That the newer Defenders started to be more complex was a bit of a disaster for the waLandRover as these machines are too complex for easy repair and require spare parts which might be a thousand miles away.
The Toyota Land Cruiser has all the features of a Land Rover Defender but has the huge advantage of being rather more reliable though....
....it, just like the Defender, is prone to break down practically anywhere.
I have to admit that I am prejudiced, and have always loved Land Rovers since my days of safaris in Kenya as a boy, and from the fact that my first car was a short wheelbase ex-War Department Land Rover - even though it was horrendously unreliable.
Personally, I would far rather not bother with a vehicle at all and go looking for game on foot. This is at the superb Etendeka Camp in Namibia where our guide, Dennis - with the binoculars - has just pointed out very fresh leopard spoor.
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