Africa, more specifically, Botswana is an indelible memory for me.
The planes got gradually smaller with each flight leg until the Cessna for the last hop to the dirt strip carved out of the bush. Then a long Landcruiser drive deeper into the bush to the camp. That was the last motorized transport for two weeks.
I am an experienced rider (horses) and rode throughout the bush all day (except around noon) every day. It was a solo trip to get over a particularly fractious divorce, which left me with not a lot (certainly not enough for a Porsche), and it did the job. The wildlife is stupendous and I saw up close - really close - (you can get very, very close on horseback) the most incredible wild beasts. If you are open and embrace the continent rather than resisting and working against it, your senses adapt quickly. Learning to spot crocs didn't take long at all! Just two tiny eyes above the water - nothing else. Just galloping amid, and trying in vain to keep up with, a herd of giraffe was life changing. Galloping in parallel to a herd of stampeding buffalo witnessing them en-masse just taking out, flattening whatever lay in their path. Waking up in the morning to find an elephant had decided to sit down right next to my tent, so close that it blocked the light completely from one mesh side. Riding around a bend in an animal track to find a lioness and her cubs feeding on a buffalo carcass is particularly unforgettable. Kudu, warthogs, hyena, giraffe, zebras, leopards, apes, lions, elephants, crocs, hippos everywhere and just roaming around living, hunting, and being hunted by each other.
I learned quickly to travel light during the day and that anything that wasn't secured very carefully, disappeared. The monkeys are very clever, inquisitive and acquisitive, with nimble fingers. Rifles need to be robust to take the rigors of horseback travel - water one minute then the driest of dirt and dust. Interestingly, the camp rifles weren't particularly special at all and I had my doubts. The stopping power needed to put down a charging buffalo is pretty significant and you need the nerve to stay still to take the shot. Looks easy in adventure films - real life is something completely different altogether.
At night - it becomes a different place with zero artificial light for hundreds of miles in all directions. The awesome unending skies of the day give way to the limitless universe and the stars. And on earth it is time for the insects to take over. Although the roaring of the lions is ever-present.
The indescribable sheer vastness of the place takes hold of you. The skies are so overpowering. The atmosphere itself just so powerful. It is a visceral experience.
In just two weeks the bush managed to destroy one pair of boots, one hat, a pair of gloves and three shirts - it seems everything growing has thorns and the grass is sharp as a blade.
I understand why it may seem a daunting proposition - but living in a tent in the African bush for just two weeks had a profound affect. I wasn't that interested in taking photos with an expensive camera and a long lens - and didn't take one (it wouldn't have survived being shaken and jolted during long days in the saddle). But... I am mighty glad I did take some quick snaps just to stir my memories of the experience of a lifetime. As
@Stalker62 says, once you've been you have to return.
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