Brits evolving to holiday at home for a change

Waterholes are a vital part of the African ecosystem, lifesaving oases in a harsh and unforgiving landscape. Bustling like a busy airport at the start of the holiday season, these areas host elephants, lions, leopards, gazelle, hyenas, hippos and hundreds of other species of animals and birds, all drawn together to compete for that most precious of commodities: water!  Without water, life is impossible.

That is why waterholes are always at the top of the list of places to visit on African safaris. Animals will come from hundreds of miles away to seek out the life-sustaining liquid, and if one sits quietly, whispering in calm undertones in that distinctive Sir David Attenborough way, it’s possible to see amazing wildlife in action, a spectacle played out in glorious 3D technicolour right in front of one’s very eyes. Mother elephants carefully guide their babies to the water’s edge and then encourage the young ones to follow them into deeper water for a swim; a fight might break out between a pack of hyenas, and the impala and gazelles dash back into the bush out of harm’s way.  Over on the far side of the pool another brawl begins between young lions from opposing prides, each desperate to get close to the water.

There is hunger, there is anger and rage, there is love and compassion, there is fear and there is hope – the full range of emotions as nature competes in the life and death struggle for survival. In fact, very much like a busy airport at the start of the holiday season. Here the patient observer will witness the gamut of human experience and see first-hand the animalistic behaviour of the species, homo sapiens, as they engage in that never-ending struggle that is called “getting away for a holiday in the sun”.

In a vain attempt to try and escape from all the frustrations and anxieties of everyday life, every man and his “anxiety dog” comes together in great boisterous confusion to engage in mortal combat with booking clerks and luggage carousels. Humans will travel from many miles away to gather in these huge glass cathedrals of desperation and immediately form long queues, snaking their way through, dragging brightly coloured suitcases on wheels in their wake. The noise can be deafening, as mothers scream at their children and children scream back at their mothers, rattled fathers shout at implacable customer services operatives, and loudspeakers drop unwelcome pronouncements from the heavens, notifying the waiting throng of delays, cancellations and bad weather.

This hectic struggle for a few days of rest and relaxation will continue through the duty-free shops and onto the cramped and overcrowded aeroplanes. It will extend as new queues form by the luggage carrousels at the destination airport, and at the lines for buses and taxis, at the reception desk in the hotels and then at the lifts. And once the weary travellers have settled in their rooms and unpacked their bags, the struggle will start all over again at the bars, the buffets and the pool sides, as the sudden urge to lie down on a sun bed overtakes all thoughts of decency and decorum.

Meanwhile, by a quiet and secluded waterhole in rural Devon, The Manor & Ashbury Resorts, a new breed of holidaymakers can be seen, relaxing and playing peacefully amidst idyllic surroundings. Yes, these humans have evolved to avoid the chaos and trauma of international travel, and have opted to holiday at home and enjoy what Britain has to offer. But please remember to only talk in whispers.  We don’t want to scare them away!

The editorial unit