If you time it right on your trip, you can arrive on the plain to witness the first dramatic thunderstorms soak the land and change it from brown to green and also spot the arrival of the wildebeest and their arch nemesis, spotted hyenas.

A real African safari should not involve a cheesy khaki-costumed guide with a microphone standing at the front of an air-conditioned bus addressing a big crowd with big lenses and fanny packs, in socks and sandals, faces squashed against windows, all drenched in deet—you get the picture.