The stories of hippos reminds me of another one of my favorite African wildlife stories. Several years ago while working on my M.A. I returned to Kenya to visit my parents over Christmas. We decided to have some fun and go to Lake Nakuru famous for it's migratory million strong flamingo population. The pink ring reflecting on the waters is something to behold! So much so that there is a look out point on one of the nearby hills. We decided this would be the place for us. We drove up the little dirt trek towards the only place in the entire National Park where people are allowed to get out of their vehicles.
As we reached the top we quickly jumped out of our vehicle to head over to the edge of the cliff to take in the surrounding beauty. After several minutes we decided to head back to the car. As we turned around we were surprised to see a troop of baboons in the nearby trees. Several of them had jumped on our car and were trying to peer through the sunroof to see the snacks we had left sitting on the seats. Dad decided to chase them away. So he starts yelling: "Shoo! Shoo!" And makes the corresponding gesture with his arms, somewhat of a flailing and sweeping motion intended to drive home the point, "Get off our car you stupid primates."
Several of the smaller baboons immediately retreated to the safety of the trees. One big fellow, probably weighing a good 80 to 100 pounds, remained steadfast. So dad intensified his advance and increased his volume. The baboon suddenly snarled and made his own advance on dad acting as if he was going to jump off the vehicle at him. If you have never heard a baboon bark and snarl, trust me when I say that it will put the fear of God into you quickly. We all jumped back rather startled at this unexpected behavior.
Now what would we do? We were rather stranded. Several minutes passed before we heard an vehicle meandering up the trek towards the top. I ran down the path to intercept them. Explaining the situation, we asked the somewhat surprised French tourist if he would be willing to rev his engine as loud as possible, accelerate rapidly, and blow his horn as he reached the top. He thought this to be a rather strange request, but quickly agreed. He even included some rather strange French insults yelling at the baboons as his vehicle parked next to ours.
The big fellow scrambled for dear life. We thanked our rescuer and entered our vehicle. The French tourist jumped out of his to take in the breathtaking scenery around him. As we pulled away I looked back over my shoulder and saw the big fellow sitting on top of the new comer's car. I don't know if monkeys have a sense of humor, but if they do I think he was saying: "I have regained my terriroty...now what are you going to do Monsieur Touriste de France?" Assuming of course that baboons in Africa speak French.
As we reached the top we quickly jumped out of our vehicle to head over to the edge of the cliff to take in the surrounding beauty. After several minutes we decided to head back to the car. As we turned around we were surprised to see a troop of baboons in the nearby trees. Several of them had jumped on our car and were trying to peer through the sunroof to see the snacks we had left sitting on the seats. Dad decided to chase them away. So he starts yelling: "Shoo! Shoo!" And makes the corresponding gesture with his arms, somewhat of a flailing and sweeping motion intended to drive home the point, "Get off our car you stupid primates."
Several of the smaller baboons immediately retreated to the safety of the trees. One big fellow, probably weighing a good 80 to 100 pounds, remained steadfast. So dad intensified his advance and increased his volume. The baboon suddenly snarled and made his own advance on dad acting as if he was going to jump off the vehicle at him. If you have never heard a baboon bark and snarl, trust me when I say that it will put the fear of God into you quickly. We all jumped back rather startled at this unexpected behavior.
Now what would we do? We were rather stranded. Several minutes passed before we heard an vehicle meandering up the trek towards the top. I ran down the path to intercept them. Explaining the situation, we asked the somewhat surprised French tourist if he would be willing to rev his engine as loud as possible, accelerate rapidly, and blow his horn as he reached the top. He thought this to be a rather strange request, but quickly agreed. He even included some rather strange French insults yelling at the baboons as his vehicle parked next to ours.
The big fellow scrambled for dear life. We thanked our rescuer and entered our vehicle. The French tourist jumped out of his to take in the breathtaking scenery around him. As we pulled away I looked back over my shoulder and saw the big fellow sitting on top of the new comer's car. I don't know if monkeys have a sense of humor, but if they do I think he was saying: "I have regained my terriroty...now what are you going to do Monsieur Touriste de France?" Assuming of course that baboons in Africa speak French.
No comments:
Post a Comment