'Unfortunately I am a snob when it comes to the definition of wilderness as I would want to experience it. As far as I am concerned, a place is not worth visiting unless, at the very least, I can camp someplace alone, away from the few other people that might be in the same district as I. There must be no fences. Every morning there must be fresh elephant dung and lion spoor through my camp - otherwise, no good! I am such a purist about this sort of thing that my wife has occasionally threatened to leave me behind while she goes off to enjoy herself, leaving me to stew in my principles. Etosha National Park in Namibia is one such place. It has lots of fences, big tourist-style camps, and lots of visitors. Yet I have willingly spent a lot of time there, camping in amongst the tourist buses at the large public camp site at Okaukuejo, gritting my teeth at the noise, radios and playing children. The draw card here is the very unique water hole, and its lawn-covered viewing area, which wraps around its southern side. During the late dry season you can sit here on a bench all day long - or night if you wish - watching a continuous drama unfold on the other side of a low, mainly symbolic, wall, that prevents visitors from wandering. Lions making kills (after many attempts), black rhino jousting with elephant - it all happens here on a daily basis. It can be watched in comfort on a green lawn beneath the shade of a tree, even as you barbecue your meat over a fire grate. Every evening, as the sun sets, dusty elephants come down to drink at the water hole. And every evening, I had to pinch myself when I found that, along with everyone else, I was thoroughly enjoying myself!'

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