In search of wild awe

“Awe is the feeling of being in the presence of something vast that transcends your understanding of the world.”

– Dr Dacher Keltner, author and professor of psychology, UC Berkeley

Recently, while traversing the busy streets of Manhattan, navigating a surging tide of people and traffic, the voice I was hearing stopped me in my tracks. I was listening to psychologist, professor, and author Dacher Keltner explain the neurophysiology behind a complex, little-studied emotion… awe. Dr Keltner explained something that we at ROAR AFRICA have always known: that awe is critical to our wellbeing. Gazing at the chaos surrounding me – the honking horns, sirens and clatter of the city – my soul yearned for the wide open space, the light, and that endangered species “silence”, that only the wilds of Africa afford. That yearning got me thinking about the profound physiological and psychological journey of our own inner landscapes spurred by the outer landscape of the wild. Instinctively, I believe we are all in search of the same thing, the undefinable feeling of awe.

The cathedral of the wild

No space is more effective at evoking awe than Africa’s vast tracts of untamed nature. There, one finds the sounds, smells, and space that provide a cathedral in the wild. One where primal emotions of presence, wonder, delight, and profound peace wash over us. 

Dr Keltner describes in detail how awe activates the vagus nerve or “soul nerve”, calming the release of stress hormones and propelling us into a state of what he calls “collective effervescence”. Returned to the ecosystem from which we all originated, the cradle of our collective humanity, our capacity to find and feel, to see and smell are reawakened. 

Having spent a lifetime in Africa and two decades sharing the limitless wonders of my home continent with anyone who will let me, the “collective effervescence” experienced by a group of curious souls witnessing a moment of wonder in the wild together is deeply familiar. The breathless excitement and wide-eyed elation we are capable of experiencing when we finally stop and pay attention are life-changing. To quote poet Mary Oliver, “To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work.” Gently guiding our guests through a careful, deeply artful design of African travel experiences and putting them in a position to experience “awe” is part of the magic we so singularly create. The simple act of stopping and really seeing is powerful to the point of being transformative. It encourages you to step out of your life and experience the world around you in a different light – fully awakened. As one guest recently wrote to me: “Deborah, I am busy packing for my next trip, and it prompted me to reach out to you to tell you the innumerable times I have reflected on my trip with you to Segera and the way it actually has shifted how I view the world. What you orchestrated was nothing less than life-altering.” (Michele, ROAR AFRICA guest, February 2023)

An odyssey to awe

There are any number of adventures to be had in Africa – both on your own or planned by someone who calls Africa home – hopefully, one who grew up on the continent and knows it as intimately as we do. And then there are trips that change your life. Trips that expand the way you see our world. The Wildest Safari on Earth aboard the Emirates Executive Private Jet is one such adventure. This odyssey will lift you and lead you right to the heart of Africa’s most untamed wild spaces teeming with wildlife, staggering biodiversity, and spectacular scenery in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Tanzania, and Rwanda, toward an unbridled state of awe you can’t begin to imagine.

You will find that awe in the ancient rock art drawn by hands of centuries past, in the prehistoric movement of rare black rhinos, and in the determination of a former poacher-turned-protector. You will feel it in the powdery red soil of Zimbabwe and touch it in the dewy mist as you trek through the rainforest in Rwanda. You will feel it in the making of new friends that immediately feel like old ones. That drastic change in visual field from screen to savannah will still the body and calm the mind, making you receptive to a level of beauty and earthly connection that feeds your soul. And while the Wildest Safari on Earth will take you into Africa’s wildest spaces, the experience is equally rooted in the people who keep these places as nature intended. 

Africa, our ultimate source

Dr Keltner mentions that one of the many ways to experience awe is to observe the goodness in others and in moments that “language can’t describe”. It is my great pleasure to share with you my people, from pangolin conservationist Lisa Hywood and pioneering female gorilla tracker Jolie Mukiza, to the world-famous drummer Kasiva Mutua and author Alexandra Fuller, each of whose wisdom, grace, and knowledge are my perpetual inspiration. They remind us, as Dr Keltner does, that awe is found in people as much as places. Africa for us, is personal. It’s our home, our dear friends, our source of awe and inspiration. Sharing it with you, on the Wildest Safari on Earth, will surely be the ultimate privilege.

Join us in experiencing a wild awe too wondrous for language to describe on the Wildest Safari on Earth, taking place September 11-24, 2024 ($149,200 per person sharing).