Q 01/05

Via which explorer did 'safari', from Swahili for 'journey', enter English in the 1850s?

A) David Livingstone

B) Richard Francis Burton

C) Henry Morton Stanley

D) John Hanning Speke

Answer · why

B) Richard Francis Burton

The Swahili word itself comes from the Arabic 'safar', to journey.

Q 02/05

Which five animals make up the safari 'Big Five'?

A) Lion, cheetah, giraffe, elephant, hippo

B) Lion, leopard, gorilla, elephant, crocodile

C) Lion, hyena, rhino, zebra, buffalo

D) Lion, leopard, rhino, elephant, buffalo

Answer · why

D) Lion, leopard, rhino, elephant, buffalo

The list has nothing to do with size or beauty; it was drawn up by hunters.

Q 03/05

Why were the Big Five given that name?

A) They were the hardest animals to hunt on foot

B) They are the five largest African mammals

C) They appear on the South African rand

D) They were the first five species protected by law

Answer · why

A) They were the hardest animals to hunt on foot

The term was coined by big-game hunters and later adopted wholesale by the tourist industry.

Q 04/05

The Serengeti's name is believed to derive from a Maasai word usually interpreted as meaning what?

A) Place of lions

B) Endless plains

C) Great river

D) Spotted land

Answer · why

B) Endless plains

The disputed root is 'seringit'; the neighbouring Masai Mara takes 'Mara' from the Maa word for 'spotted', after the bushy trees dotting it.

Q 05/05

Roughly how many wildebeest take part in the Serengeti-Mara Great Migration each year?

A) 1.7 million

B) 400,000

C) 900,000

D) 1.2 million

Answer · why

A) 1.7 million

They are joined by about 260,000 zebras and hundreds of thousands of gazelles, and around 250,000 wildebeest die along the way.