Most people arrive without a clear picture of how a safari day is structured. It is more rhythmic and less frantic than the films suggest.

Before dawn

A wake-up call around 5.30, coffee and something small, and out as the gate opens. This is the best hour of the day: predators are still active, the light is low and golden, and the air is cold enough that you will want that extra layer.

Mid-morning

By nine or ten the light has gone hard and most animals have found shade. On a split-drive day you return to camp for a proper breakfast and a few hours off. On a full-day drive you keep going with a picnic lunch, usually somewhere with a view and permission to get out.

The middle of the day

Quiet. This is when people swim, sleep, read or sort photographs. It is not wasted time — it is what makes the two ends of the day possible.

Late afternoon

Out again around four, as the heat drops and animals start moving. The last hour before the gates close is often the best of the day, and it is when your guide will try to have you somewhere with a view west.

Evening

Back at camp by dusk in most national parks, because night driving is not permitted. Dinner is usually early. So is bed — the next wake-up call is at 5.30.

Sundowners

In conservancies and on private land, many guides stop somewhere with a view in the last half hour and set up drinks on the bonnet. It is a small ritual and it is one of the things people remember longest. In national parks, where you have to be out by dusk, it happens back at camp instead.

What a full-day drive changes

On a full-day drive you skip the midday break and carry a picnic lunch. It is more tiring and it is usually more productive, because you are out through the hours when most vehicles have gone back. Whether a route uses split drives or full days is set out on each safari page.

What your guide is actually doing

Reading tracks, listening to alarm calls from impala and baboon, watching where vultures are circling, and talking on the radio to other guides. Most good sightings come from that work rather than from luck.