The vehicles leave at six, which is earlier than most people would choose on holiday. There is a reason, and it is not tradition.
Before the sun clears the horizon the air is at its coolest, and the animals that feed or hunt at night are still moving. Then the heat arrives, and much of the bush goes to ground until the afternoon.
What we look at first
The first ten minutes are mostly tracks. A fresh line of prints across the dust road tells a guide who was here overnight, which way they were heading and roughly how long ago.