Almost tear-jerkingly elegant to look at they sound like Bernard Manning belching in the bath Indeed nature plays lots of similar tricks

Almost tear-jerkingly elegant to look at, they sound like Bernard Manning belching in the bath Indeed, nature plays lots of similar tricks. The Maribou storks walk so awkwardly, yet fly so gracefully.There are, Craig told us, 380 species of bird in the Kruger. We saw some of the most dazzling, too, among them a fiery-necked nightjar, a Birchell’s coucal (known locally as the rain bird; if it calls, it means rain is coming) and glossy starlings of iridescent blue. However, like the blinkered tourists who visit the Louvre and hurry past any number of sublime works of art to gaze at the Mona Lisa, we were intent mainly on seeing the Big Five.

And although buffalo and leopard eluded us, the others we found.In fact, we found more elephants than we bargained for one morning, deep in the bush. Suddenly we were surrounded by a herd of 10 or 12, crashing around in a feeding frenzy.No sooner had we seen them than Craig again pricked up his hyper-sensitive ears A lion, somewhere to the east of us. We found him, marking his territory with a series of enormous roars. Craig recognised him as one of a pair of brothers who controlled four prides of females. We stared at him with respect.Craig told us that if we were ever charged by a lion – as, needless to say, he had been – the thing to do is to charge back.

Apparently, lions are so used to other creatures running away from them that they are thoroughly disconcerted when something runs at them, and invariably turn tail. It’s the “invariably” I have a problem with.Brian Viner travelled to Johannesburg with Virgin Atlantic (economy class from £500 per person). Rooms at Ulusaba start from 6,000 rand (£375) per night, prices inclusive of meals and based on two people sharing. Transfers from Johannesburg to Ulusaba cost from £150 per person To book, call 0800 716 919.

“Wasungu, wasungu,” cry the children playing on the roadsides of Bagamoyo, as the occasional European tourist passes. The word identifies the “white man” who, so far, is a rare visitor to this Tanzanian coastal town. Bagamoyo is 45 miles north of the capital, Dar Es Salaam, and across the water from the island of Zanzibar. A dusty place, its earth roads are lined with mud houses, built with a framework of logs and covered with branches from coconut palms. Grains of rice dry on cloths spread out on patches of rough ground. Women in sarongs and shawls walk barefoot, carrying wood or cooking pots on their head.