When the idea was first introduced for Delores and Bruce Benton to travel to Africa for a safari tour, Delores was far from convinced.
Although the well-traveled couple has been on trips to Europe, South America and elsewhere, a trek to the Serengeti in northern Tanzania was going to be a whole other animal.
“I looked at my wife, and I said, ‘I think we should do it’,” Bruce said. “I said, ‘You know everything on our radar, whether it will be Prague or Australia or Paris, it’s all another big city. This is totally different than anything. If we’re going to do it, we better do it while we’re young enough to do it,’ and she said, ‘I think you’re crazy’.”
Bruce then consulted with his sister-in-law, Barbara Benton, from Illinois, who had previously gone on an African safari. A phone call later, and Delores was sold.
Recalling the conversation between Delores and Barbara, Bruce said his sister-in-law urged the couple to take the trip.
“She said, ‘Delores, if you never go on another vacation you must do this’,” Bruce said. “She said, ‘If you don’t have the money, then skip your next 10 vacations and do this. You must go. It’s the most unbelievable, magical thing you’ve ever done,’ and my wife hung up the phone and looked at me, and she says, ‘Oh my God. I guess we’re going’.”
Earlier this month, 18 Tellico Village residents, along with four from Illinois, made the long trip to Africa to tour parts of the central and southern Serengeti, getting a close-up look at the migrations and living habits of wildlife ranging from exotic birds, wildebeests, impalas, zebras, giraffes, lions and more. Among the tourists in Africa were the Bentons, along with fellow Village residents Marge and Lance Jensen.
The Jensens, who serve as consultants for World Ventures Tours and Travel in Knoxville, assist in organizing overseas trips like the one to Africa for Village residents and others, but unlike most other travel agents, they accompany and experience the trips with their clients.
The group flew into an area of Tanzania near Mount Kilimanjaro in the early evening on the first day of the trip, and the next day they headed out to the western part of the Serengeti. They quickly spotted the top five animals tourists usually look for while out on the safari, including lions, buffalo, leopards, elephants and rhinoceroses.
“That’s what you look for is to say you completed that, but we hit all of them the first day,” Lance said about the main five animals. “... The minute you get off that airplane within five minutes you’re seeing (the animals). You get in your Land Rover with your guide — six people to a truck — and everybody separates and goes off.”
Bruce Benton said the tourists got to see all aspects of the animals’ lives, including mating, hunting and devouring their prey.
“Originally, (you think), ‘Oh, I’m not going to want to see this,’” Bruce said. “But the truth is it’s the circle of life.”
In one episode, he saw a wildebeest that was limping, and he soon realized the animal more than likely would soon be food for a stronger beast. The travelers also got to see a variety of exotic birds, as well as birds of prey in action. In addition, they got to sit down and talk to members of the Maasai tribe native to Kenya and northern Tanzania.
Bruce said during one part of the trip, he saw vultures going into each end of a dead animal and picking at the remains.
“I asked my guide, and he says they don’t have hooked beaks to be able to tear the skin,” Bruce said. “They have to wait for a hyena or a jackal to come and open it up.”
Villagers also learned that lions undergo an intense but short mating season, copulating several times an hour for one day before resting.
According to Lion ALERT, a nonprofit organization that works to preserve lion species in Africa, lionesses mate up to 100 times per day and in 17-minute intervals. The average duration is less than half a minute.
“I couldn’t believe how close we would get to the animals,” Bruce said. “I mean there were lions copulating, and we’d drive up to like three feet away from them, and we’d just sit there watching them, and, of course, they call them the king of the jungle, but he only lasts about 25 seconds.”
Lance Jensen said every day of the trip the group went out at 6 a.m. to observe animals and life on the grassland. He said the animals are used to seeing the signature Land Rovers the guides use to conduct the trips.
Marge said people going on safaris have to depend on their knowledgeable guides for safe practices in navigating through the Serengeti.
“Not only is he there to help you relax and enjoy it, but he’s your driver as well, and he knows just every animal and every bird you could possibly see,” Marge said.
Bruce said when travelers had to go to the bathroom, they would tell the guide that they needed to go “check the tires,” and the driver would find a suitable spot on high ground.
In addition to viewing the animals on the ground, the travelers also got a bird’s eye view of the plain from a hot air balloon ride.
The pilot was adept enough at flying so tourists could get in close above the animals to take photographs.
“We went up just after sunrise, and the views were absolutely spectacular of seeing the animals early in the morning, and the pilot was good enough that he could drop the balloon down so maybe you’re only 20 or 30 feet above them,” Lance said.
Both couples said the trip to Africa, which was the first for the Bentons and the second for the Jensens, was unique when compared to other journeys they have taken overseas.
“The Forbidden City in Beijing will always be there; it’s always the same,” Lance said. “The Rhine River cruise, the cathedrals in Cologne, (Germany), the castle in Heidelberg and all that. They’re always the same, but this is an ever-changing scene, and you really don’t get tired of it.”
Marge seconded those thoughts.
“People ask us, ‘What’s your favorite trip?’” Marge said. “We had so many, but this one is truly different from anything else you would ever do.”
While the Jensens were initially apprehensive about taking another African safari adventure, the most recent experience proved to be just as enjoyable as the first, Lance said.
“We thought maybe going back the second time we would be bored; far from it,” Lance said.
“We loved it just as must as the first time,” Marge added.
