The ranger pulled the rifle from the rack at the front of the jeep and turned to us as we prepared to step out onto the Sabi Sands Game Reserve and watch six very large rhinos walk past.

“I want to make it clear to you that there is a very real danger here,” Johan, the ranger, said. “Although they cannot see very well they can hear and smell you. Walk slowly and quietly and stay behind me at all times”.

With Johan in front and Anios, the tracker, at the back we gingerly stepped out onto the South Africa grassland, on the edge of the Kruger National Park, watched by a warthog but not yet by the rhino.

I was with my 11-year-old daughter Abbie and was very conscious of the fact that I was in charge of her and her safety. The thing is my record of looking after live things is not very good.

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Aaronovitch on a family safari of Zambia

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BACKGROUND

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• A horseback safari in Kenya

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• Aaronovitch on a family safari of Zambia

When I was at primary school I was chosen to look after the class hamster. It died. Then it was the school budgie. Next door’s cat was the prime suspect for that one. When my parents went away and left me alone for the first time the cat died.

So, where could I go with my daughter that would be safe. How about a safari?

That is how I found myself standing behind my daughter staring at a two tonne rhino with a 96cm horn that could go straight through the shell of the Jeep.

As the rhinos (life expectancy of 46 years) took each step you could feel the ground shake beneath you. The large female turned towards us and stopped 15 feet away. Johan suggested that now was a good time to carefully make our way back to the vehicle and relative safety. Watching out for exposed roots, snakes and anything else that may delay our retreat we made it back without incident.

We had gone for a four day safari, staying at Ulusaba, described as Richard Branson’s private game reserve. Guests that had signed the comment book included Leo Blair who was there a couple of months before with his parents.

The Rock Lodge, built on the side of a large hill, allows you to overlook the miles and miles of park without seeing any of your eight neighbouring lodges.

Each one has a plunge pool, large lounge, four-poster bed and spacious bathroom as well as a computer room. The decking outside allows panoramic views of the animals wandering past below.

If you imagine the best hotel you have stayed in and then take that great service and put it in a small, family run B&B you get some idea of what Ulusaba is like. One family told me their son had asked for a particular soft drink that was not stocked in the bar. It was there the next day.

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