Walk on the Wild Side at England's Knepp Estate
When you think about going on safari, you probably imagine a journey in Africa where you can see wild animals like lions, elephants and giraffes.
However, there is a place in the UK where you can go on safari to see animals like bats, butterflies, beavers and birds, as well as larger creatures such as deer, pigs, cattle and wild horses.
That place is the Knepp Estate, a 14-square-kilometer private property in West Sussex, southern England.
The estate was previously a farm, but it was hard for the owners, Charlie Burrell and his wife Isabella Tree, to make money out of it. So in 2001 they decided to start a new rewilding project instead.
Rewilding is a way to return an environment to a more natural condition so it supports more wildlife. At the Knepp Estate, this meant sowing wild flowers and grasses and introducing animals like deer and rare species of pigs, cattle and ponies.
As a result, there has been a huge increase in insect, bird, plant and animal life at the estate, including many rare wild species. And white storks, a species of bird that has been extinct in the UK for centuries, have also been successfully reintroduced.
Now visitors to the Knepp Estate can take wildlife safaris with an expert guide either on foot or in a vehicle. They can also explore more than 25 kilometers of walking paths by themselves. There are five tree platforms along these routes with views over the countryside, and a shelter by a lake for bird-watching.
Hungry? The estate has a cafe and restaurant where visitors can enjoy breakfast or lunch made with some of the organic meat and vegetables produced on the estate.
And if you want to stay at the estate, there are cozy holiday cottages, as well as camping and glamping options — and even treehouses, which come with double beds and wood-burning stoves to keep you warm.
