Safari Returns

 The HG Safari tours return this week on Wednesday 7 January at 12 noon Grid time (9pm in Central Europe) with the usual double bill of destinations. As always, a host or guide will be waiting for us at each stop because sure, you can visit these places by yourself at any time, but it's even more fascinating to be there with the person who built, or owns, or looks after the sim and who can give you some context to what you're looking at. And traveling with friends makes it a road trip.

Defying drowning on Friends Grid

It's a fine human paradox that on one hand we're all trying to get away and carve out our own little paradise of expression and freedom, but on the other hand we're gregarious animals and feel the need to explain, share, and party together. Sims come alive when they're full of real people not just animesh or NPCs. 

That's the fun of group trips and kind of cancels out the more frustrating bits of herd-hypergridding: lag, missing bits, having a time constraint, and did I mention lag.

Textures were optional during this visit to Wyldwood Bayou grid

 Our amazing hosts deserve credit for all they do! in the early days of organizing Safari, getting people to commit to an appointment inworld a week ahead of time was a feat, today people are booked into our schedule at anything from two to six months in advance. Sometimes we're privileged to be the first visitors to a brand new region, sometimes we get fresh insights into a place we all know well, and some of our tours are to builds that belong to that magical hinterland of Opensim - places we have never heard of before, or thought lost forever.

Lunching on Winxtropia

Why aren't the exact details of each week's Safari published in advance on Social Media? That's easy. Firstly: Sometimes trips have to be reorganized at the last minute. That means changes ! And that can vary from different coordinates on a sim, or a different region, or even a whole different tour that has to be quickly set up. Last-minute reposting on all the different social media would take up too much time. It's easier and more efficient to have one central point where you can get your info - and that's at the Clubhouse.

Naked flames on Ignis Fatuus

Secondly: The idea is to go as a group, rather than everyone just showing up whenever. By all arriving together, our hosts can give one explanation to us all. Is there lag? Yes, but after the first few minutes it generally wears off. After all with a few exceptions, these sims are open 24/7 so anyone who doesn't enjoy the 'group' experience need not come on Safari, they can drop in at another time. 

Hypergrid teleports can be tricky

Thirdly: You might not believe it but there are still people who are new to hypergridding, or who don't know a lot of people in opensim. By coming along to the clubhouse ahead of time you can meet up with some of the regulars who will try to be there for you if you get a bit lost.

Becoming part of the computer art on ArtDestiny

Fourthly: Showing up ahead of time at a Safari destination may seem like a clever thing to do but you kind of put a strain on our hosts who are often anxious and busy doing last minute things (like restarting the region) so think of it like a formal dinner party, and don't be 'that' person who rudely shows up too early.

Sightseeing on Tierra de Volcanes

There is never enough time on a Safari trip to see 'everything'. The destinations we go to are often huge, highly detailed, and with complex stories to be told. Hosts and visitors alike know that we're only going to be scratching the surface of each build. Each Safari is a 'taster', an open invitation to return, to bring your friends to see this lovely new place you've discovered, to make acquaintances and maybe even find new creative collaborators; to break down the barriers of language, time zone, and culture.

The Clubhouse, HG Safari grid

This first season of Safari will be ten weeks long, with two destinations per week, so that's 20 places we will see, on about 18 different grids. If you've never joined Safari before, please don't be shy, it's not a cult, or an exclusive group, you're very welcome. If you can't spare the whole two hours, just join us for a little while, and if grid-jumping is new to you, don't be afraid to say so. 

The first HG Safari season of 2026 runs from January 7 to March 11. See you at the Clubhouse!

HG Address grid.hgsafari.org:58002:HG Safari