Theodore Roosevelt's African safari 1909

Roosevelt standing with native hunters over a dead lion during a safari in 1910. Photo credit: Library of Congress.

In March 1909, shortly after the end of his second term, Roosevelt left New York for a safari in Africa. Financed by Andrew Carnegie and by his own proposed writings, Roosevelt hunted for specimens for the Smithsonian Institution and for the American Museum of Natural History in New York. His party, which included scientists from the Smithsonian and was led by Frederick Selous, the famous big game hunter and explorer, killed or trapped over 11,397 animals, from insects and moles to hippopotamuses and elephants. 512 of the animals were big game animals, of which 262 were consumed by the expedition. This included six white rhinos. Tons of salted animals and their skins were shipped to Washington; the number of animals was so large, it took years to mount them. The Smithsonian was able to share many duplicate animals with other museums. Of the large number of animals taken, Roosevelt said, "I can be condemned only if the existence of the National Museum, the American Museum of Natural History, and all similar zoological institutions are to be condemned."^[37] Although based in the name of science, there was a large social element to the safari. Interaction with many native peoples, local leaders, renowned professional hunters, and land owning families made the safari much more than a hunting excursion. Roosevelt wrote a detailed account of this adventure; "African Game Trails" describes the excitement of the chase, the people he met, and flora and fauna he collected in the name of science.

http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Theodore_Roosevelt

more safari history-Rooseveldt's safari

Safari Holidays: Brief History Safari has it roots in Arabic via Swahili and means “to make a journey”. Originally, Safaris were essentially trade missions seeking ivory, rhino horn, and slaves. With the coming of Europeans, the Safari began to be associated with exploration and the discovery. And those early European Safaris were huge operations that involved armies of staff and crew along with supplies and weapons. They blazed a trail for scientific safaris by Stanley and Livingstone or Burton and Speke. Many explorers never returned alive. Disease, starvation or death was part of the early African Safari experience.

African Safaris were trendy too. The novels of Rider Haggard, such as King Solomon’s Mines, introduced Allan Quatermain and the African Safari to an entirely new Victorian audience. Inevitably, along with great naturalists and men of science came the hunters. The European colonial ethic was to rule and dominate the people, the mineral resources and the wildlife. The Safari became synonymous with the “Hunt”. Conquering the wild beast and returning with trophies became the Safari’s entire purpose. Great White Hunters like Cornwallis Harris and Frederick Courtenay Selous prospered and by 1850 they were killing 30,000 elephant a year in East Africa. Gradually, this attitude changed. Those same hunters realised that the wildlife they were slaughtering was a finite resource. The first seeds of a conservation ethic were planted.

The Safari gradually began to change as the hunters began to consider themselves as naturalists and experts in bush craft. Selous’ book “A Hunter’s Wanderings In Africa” encouraged a new respect for natural Africa. Ironic though it may be, it’s because of men like Seleous and Harris that the conservation movement got started. That didn’t immediately stop the shooting parties though.

East Africa became the home of the Safari in the early 20th century and an entire industry grew up to cater for the every need of American and European clients keen to bag a trophy. The Guided Safari was born and probably reached its peak in 1909 with Theodore Roosevelt’s Great Safari, which cost £15,000.00 (several millions in today’s value!). Every Safari, whether undertaken by a hunter, naturalist, explorer, conqueror or colonial administrator, needed an army of gun-bearers, interpreters, guides, cooks and porters. Some of the Africans who made Safaris possible were almost as well known to the European public as the white explorers themselves.

By the middle of the last century portered safaris became less common as automobiles took over. Camping Safaris grew in popularity and so too did Photographic Safaris. The Safari Holiday has come a long way from the days of slave trading and over-zealous hunting. However, some elements of the Safari Holiday remain the same : Africa’s staggering natural beauty, the sense of freedom and adventure and the crucial involvement of Africa’s people. A Safari Holiday also remains a highly personal experience.

Safari bkround/Victorian novels

The word Safara comes from the Arabic meaning “to make a journey” and from that derives the Swahili synonym Safari. Nothing nobler than trade was the purpose of the first Safaris. Coastal Arabs and Swahilis traded for centuries with the African interior and Safari described not only the traders’ expeditions but also their huge caravans. The trophies sought by these 18th century explorers were ivory, rhino horn, and slaves. With the advent of European colonisation and the scramble for “A Place in the Sun”, the Safari began to become associated with exploration and exploitation of natural resources, animal and mineral.

European exploratory safari caravans were large-scale operations that involved a huge contingent of staff and crew along with supplies and weapons. They mapped out the “Dark Continent” and paved the way for scientific exploration. The expeditions of Stanley and Livingstone or Burton and Speke lasted years and involved the sort of preparations that were more commonly associated with equipping a small army. Many explorers never returned alive. Risk as well as adventure was an integral part of any Safari. Disease, starvation or attacks by wild animals or hostile tribes were part and parcel of the African Safari experience: magnificent, but potentially fatal. On the heels of the explorers came the early naturalists including men like William John Burchell, Thomas Ayres and Gustav Adolf Fischer. They were instrumental in identifying several species of animals, categorisation and taxonomy being pretty much the extent of what was considered “science” in those days.

The novels of Rider Haggard, especially his first blockbuster, King Solomon’s Mines published in 1875, introduced its hero Allan Quatermain and the thrill of life in the African Bush to an entirely new Victorian audience. This popular culture influenced generations of young Victorian men, imbuing the Safari with an irresistible allure to match the strong Empire ethic of “duty”. Inevitably, along with great naturalists and men of science came the hunters. Just as the colonial ethic was to rule and dominate the people, so the European sensibility of the time saw nothing wrong with doing the same to the wildlife. The Safari became synonymous with the “Hunt”. Killing the big beast and returning from the hunt with trophies ranging from hides, skins and heads, to an entire animal became the Safari’s sole raison d’être.

from cheesy travel blog