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How a Blind Traveler Experiences Safari Using Sound, Smell & Touch

Today, Condé Nast Traveler joins Lucy Edwards at Sabi Sabi in South Africa to share what it’s like to experience safari blind. Lucy lost her sight twelve years ago and for a long time felt as though there was no point in traveling if she could not see it. However, as she adapted to her new way of life, Lucy learned how to experience the world through her other senses. From feeling the luxury of her room at Sabi Sabi to hearing an elephant munching just meters away, Lucy shows how to experience safari through sound, smell, and touch.

Released on 12/16/2024

Transcript

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]