How a Blind Traveler Experiences Safari Using Sound, Smell & Touch
Released on 12/16/2024
I'm blind and I'm currently on South African safari
and you're probably wondering why would you go
on safari if you can't see.
[safari music]
[elephant squeaks]
Oh, I can hear them. Can you hear them?
How close are they?
[Jamiel] 40 meters back.
[Lucy] Wow.
[Jamiel] They're going
down to the watering hole, I think.
[Lucy] Are they?
My name is Lucy Edwards and I'm here on safari
in South Africa with Sabi Sabi.
Behind me, currently, elephants are grazing.
I am in true heaven.
I lost my eyesight at 17 years old.
I always really loved traveling,
but I thought the world of travel was shut out to me the day
that I lost my vision.
As I can hear right now, there's an elephant
crunching leaves about 10 meters behind me.
I'm just so lucky to be able to use my ears
and all of my other senses to understand
this gorgeous, gorgeous landscape.
[safari music]
As soon as we landed at the airport, we were escorted
by a Jeep to Sabi Sabi by our lovely guide Jamiel
and his colleague Louis.
Sometimes you really have to hold on.
[Louis] He's right there, on the left-hand side.
[Jamiel] The big male elephant, he's standing feeding
underneath this big tree.
So now he's walking right towards us.
[leaves crunching]
So you can just sit very still.
It's right next to us now.
[elephants growls]
Oh my God.
[both laughing]
That's so cool.
That was an amazing elephant.
[Jamiel] So, welcome to Earth Lodge.
[both laughing]
Hello, hello, hello.
Hi Lucy. Hi Oliver.
What a welcome committee.
[Lucy] Oh, no?
We always train them very well.
[Lucy] You got the elephants out for us.
[Alta] Yes.
[Lucy laughing]
When I lost my eyesight, I was so, so low,
that I didn't actually travel a lot and I thought that
because I lost my vision, I wasn't going to enjoy holidays
in the same way, which now,
I know is totally, totally wrong.
[Alta] Well, a big warm welcome.
So Lucy, this is Nikita.
She's got a nice refreshing drink for you.
[Lucy] Thank you so much.
You're very welcome.
I could drink that too quick.
[all laughing]
The places and destinations that I travel to are saying,
hey, it's okay to be blind, Luc, like,
it's really cool to be here.
[safari music]
I just feel so, so lucky to be here.
I feel a bit teary even saying it.
People are often scared to help me.
They're scared of blindness,
but the whole team here are so lovely and accommodating.
Anywhere around here they will just take my arm,
which I really do appreciate.
[Alta] So it's a beautiful open area
so you can see over the bush.
[Lucy] The whole vibe of this place is just so relaxing.
[safari music]
So as soon as I walked in these doors to Earth Lodge,
which is where we're staying, I was guided
around the whole room in a tactile way.
Every landmark that the team saw,
I was able to touch and feel.
They even told me where all the teas were,
which is very important for this British blind girl.
[Lucy laughing]
They told me where the windows were.
The fact that they could see the gorgeous bush
beyond our pool.
I know, bougie but gorgeous.
So there is a waterhole right in front there.
It's actually got hippos and a crocodile.
[Lucy] Yes.
[Alta] So if you hear a snoring sound here,
it's not all of us.
They have both, right?
[both laughing]
Yeah.
[Lucy] I don't have to see this place to know
that it is just truly beautiful.
The walls in this lodge are gorgeous.
They're the most tactile walls I've ever felt in a lodge.
Lighting is super important when you have
a vision impairment and because the lodge isn't filled
with bright whites, it doesn't hurt my eyes.
It's actually really woody colors, earthy tones in here.
So I'm able to really move around
and not have a headache, which is important.
[safari music]
I'm totally blind and I have been for 12 years nearly.
I have a condition named Non-24,
which means I can't regulate my circadian rhythm
in the natural way by seeing sunlight.
That's what all humans do.
So for me, having a wake up call to be like, hi Lucy,
you are coming on safari, it's half five.
That is amazing for me.
[safari music]
The pace of the safari really helped me just stop and listen
and really take in my environment.
[lions growling]
That was epic.
[Lucy] It's cool, isn't it?
[Jamiel] They're actually not as frenzied as I thought.
Normally, it's is like jeering and ripping
and growling and snarling.
But they actually got good table manners today.
[safari music]
[Lucy] The buffalos are surrounding us.
So you're hearing them grazing.
[buffalo growls]
Well, I have a lovely statue of a buffalo here
and my lovely guide has just told me all about his ears.
[Jamiel] And you can see their ears.
Actually it's interesting.
They sit underneath the horns.
[Lucy] Oh, here.
[Jamiel] Yeah, they don't sit above on top,
they sit right underneath the horn.
They're completely black in color, they actually
really get their nickname the black death from.
And they've got these heavy set horns right on top
of their heads.
Almost look like powdered wigs.
They curl back over the top.
[Lucy] Oh, that's such a good description.
Like a little wig.
[safari music]
We are hearing them all around us.
You don't have to see the world to enjoy it.
And I think statues and senses and sounds and smells,
that's what it's all about.
[buffalo growls]
What Sabi Sabi really does well is just allows us to be one
with nature and understand that you don't have to rush
towards the different animals to be in their environment.
Like, you need to soak up the tracks, the skeletons.
This has been chewed by hyenas.
Oh wow. It's quite rough.
You are bound to see an animal when you're on safari.
But there are the things about the environment
that are really unique to this part of South Africa
and that's what Sabi Sabi is giving me
the opportunity to experience.
[Jamiel] We have the lower mandible of the elephant.
That is incredible.
I love it because when I walked in,
you guys said welcome home.
Why do you say that?
So we say welcome home because we really want you
to feel like you're, you know, comfortable in your home.
You're not just on holiday, but it's sort of
your second home in the bush.
'Cause for us, when we live and work in the reserve
for all the years that we've done,
we, as the staff, sort of become a small family.
So we want to welcome you into our home
and part of the family.
Thank you so much.
Oh, you're welcome.
I do feel it.
Yeah, no, we're happy to have you.
We're happy to have you.
[safari music]
Blind girl sun down, I'm hearing the Sabi River.
Just sounds beautiful.
[water splashing]
[safari music]
[leopard growls]
[light music]
We're here at dinner in the bush outside
and these gorgeous flowers are raining on me as we eat.
They're just beautiful.
They're falling off the trees
and it's such a tactile experience.
When we're at dinner last night,
they don't actually hand you the menu by default.
They read it out to you.
[Server] Your starters, your first option,
is a nicoise salad.
We also made you a vegetarian bobatie.
It's a South African traditional dish,
which we use beef meats, but for you,
because you're vegetarian, we use vegetables.
It's quite a very lovely dish.
And now we go to your dessert, a South African milk tart.
So this is worth trying.
Yeah.
And they did that to every single table.
And I found that so different
because usually in restaurants I just get given a menu
and it means that I can't be equal.
I have to have it read out or I have to have it in braille.
But here they just read it.
[safari music]
There is a part of you on safari when you are blind
that thinks, oh, would it just be amazing
if I could take a quick peek?
But I think that what is amazing about this trip is
that we really are seeing the ability in disability.
The animals don't care that I can't see them.
So why should I care that I can't see them either.
[Jamiel] Rhinos also have very poor eyesight.
[Lucy] Oh, okay.
[Jamiel] So at this distance, they cannot see us.
They move through the world by smell and by sound.
[Lucy] My kind of animal.
[Jamiel] Your kind animal.
[Lucy laughing]
[elephant roars]
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