When at an animal sighting, be it a waterhole or in the field, it is considered good etiquette to switch off your car engine while viewing the wildlife. Once you have secured a safe and comfortable distance from the animals, the symphony of nature should be the only sound we hear. The same goes for loud talking and laughing at sightings.

You are only allowed to disembark your vehicle at designated areas, such as toilets or rest stops. This is for your own safety, and the safeguarding of the park. This includes sitting on the car door with the window open, which risks falling out, or being snatched by a curious elephant trunk. It’s best for all your limbs, besides the occasional hand on your long camera lens, to be inside the car at all times.

Elephant sightings in particular are to be handled with finesse. When a herd of elephants is crossing the road, stop your vehicle at a distance, immediately. Oftentimes, drivers try to get too close to where the elephants are crossing, and doing so, obstruct their path, causing them to get frustrated and uncomfortable. These two moods are highly unfavourable in elephants, the results of which are well documented and tend to go viral for the wrong reasons.

When parking your vehicle at an animal sighting, try to leave enough space on the road for another car to pass. If you happen to be a latecomer to a sighting and there are already a few cars parked, it’s considered good etiquette to park behind the last or in front of the first car. That means no squeezing into a crevice, driving offroad in the process, and disturbing the animals with lots of back and forth manoeuvres.