Hiking South Africa Is More Dangerous Than Exploring New Jersey?

Hiking in South Africa probably seems very dangerous to those folks who never traveled there. However, some adventurous folks in New Jersey, USA also come across wild animals. So, is it more dangerous to get your boots on the ground on the “Dark Continent”? Read on to find out what might, at first, feel like a rhetorical question.

Dangerous Hiking Encounters

Probably, you’ve seen many reels on YouTube, Instagram, and Platform X showing people encountering dangerous situations with large animals like elephants. Usually, it happens in large protected areas where people can self-drive or go with a guide. Meanwhile, hardly anything like that comes out of New Jersey. However, you should note that while Manhattan and New York are close by, not all of the state is full of people and cities.

In fact, the north-western areas have forests, mountains, and the Jersey Shore lies on the coast. Plenty of hiking opportunities present themselves. And, that also means that hikers might encounter wildlife. On Reddit this week, an experienced hiker from the USA, u/Heavy-Extension-6395, wondered if hiking in Africa is more likely to involve dangerous animal encounters.

Anecdotes Reveal An Interesting Take On It

In the state of NJ, hikers might come across poisonous snakes like the Timber Rattler; meanwhile, many folks from across the ocean talked about snakes as well. Mainly, folks noted the black mambas and puff adders seemed scary. One unfortunate person once encountered a boomslang, which has quick-acting venom.

However, generally, it seems that hiking in Africa is unlikely to bring much terror. Apart from baboons, small cats, and small antelope, the general consensus is that dangerous animal encounters seldom happen. Why is that? Well, as many people point out, getting close to the bigger animals usually involves paying for a guided drive or walk in protected areas. Few of those animals roam around willy-nilly into built-up areas, or on unguided hiking routes.

Remember, in NJ, hikers in the remote areas might come across black bears, snakes, coyotes, foxes, and even a puffer fish that is poisonous. In fact, it turns out that because so few dangerous wild animals roam freely across unfenced areas in South Africa, the chance of a dangerous hiking encounter seems about the same, if not less likely, than in the USA.

Not Convinced?

Many comments arrived from those folks who hiked for adventure. Here are some reactions that might convince you that the average solo hike needn’t terrify visitors to the Dark Continent:

• So what you have to remember is that in South Africa at least, the large dangerous animals are confined to national park areas where you cant hike without a qualified (and armed) ranger/wildlife guide.
• Most hikes are fairly tame. Ironically, the US has a lot [more] wild animals in areas with human habitation [than] South Africa does. We would have to pay for a guided hike within a game reserve to see anything more wild than a snake or a monkey.
• It’s the snakes that you need to be most concerned with. I very nearly stood on a puff adder while on a short hike a couple of years back. That’s the real concern.
• Had to hike through a pack of baboons once. They had babies so I was very [wary] they may get aggressive, but thankfully not.

What are your thoughts? Are you surprised to discover that unless you go on a guided safari tour in South Africa, or visit a National Park, you’re not likely to encounter anything more dangerous than wild animals found in New Jersey? Of course, the disclaimer is that wild animals might sometimes escape from the protected areas. Still, next time you pack for your African adventure, will you consider hiking without a guide?

Let us know in the comments below, and come back here often for all your travel news and updates.