Almost Eaten on Safari

ALMOST EATEN ON SAFARI – from Dr. Borins’ book “Go Away Just for the Health of It”.

The majority of people who live in big cities are completely cut off from contact with animals except for cats, dogs, robins, squirrels and cockroaches. Children growing up in a city often learn about animals first through books, television and movies. They develop their own excitement and infatuation with animals of the jungle and give these exotic creatures personalities and human traits. They build friendships with characters like Yogi Bear, Donald Duck, Kermit the Frog and Barney.

When the fantasy of knowing these characters turns to the reality of seeing these animals in the zoo, I have noticed there can be a tremendous disappointment. I often feel sad when I go to the zoo or circus because of the inadequate way the animals are cared for. In many countries I find the standard of care is quite poor. It is tragic to see beautiful animals so badly abused and restricted.

I thought it would be important to see the animals in the wild before they are destroyed. Since I have always dreamed of going to Africa to see the wild animals, you can imagine my excitement when Bonnie and I took Larry, then three, to Kenya to go on safari to the Masai Mara Game Reserve.

We flew from the Seychelles, one of the most beautiful islands in the world, to Nairobi the capital of Kenya. All of the safaris were very expensive so we joined up with a camping company called Kimbla Travel, which took us on a four-day camping trip through the game reserve at the height of the season for the migratory wildebeests. I just could not wait for my son to see all the animals and for us to see the jungle through his eyes.

A month earlier, in Sri Lanka, we had seen the cartoon movie, “The Jungle Book”. Larry identified strongly with Mowgli, the jungle boy who was raised by a pack of wolves and befriended by some delightful animal characters. We tried to get him excited about the safari too by talking about how great it was going to be.
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When we finally got into our safari wagons and began to spy lions, zebras, giraffes and elephants running free across the plains, Bonnie and I were jumping with joy, snapping photos, pointing fingers and screaming with glee. However, as soon as the vehicle started moving, Larry closed his eyes and went soundly to sleep. He didn’t wake up until we got back to our campsite. At three he just couldn’t seem to relate to the real thing and the task of spotting animals was difficult for him. He didn’t remember a thing about our day excursions into the reserve.

On the last night of our safari, we were camped by a tiny stream. All along we had been assured that our campsite was safe and there were supposed to be guards around the campfire guarding us with rifles. At about one o’clock in the morning we heard something eating at the side of our tent. At first we were afraid to peek out and see what was there but Bonnie had to get up to pee and bravely looked out to find huge water buffaloes grazing around the tents. They seemed to be docile and minding their own business so she relieved herself beside our tent. The guards were still sitting up-asleep.

When she came back we cuddled into our warm sleeping bag and listened to our small son breathing peacefully beside us. All of a sudden we heard thunderous hoof beats galloping by our tent. We sat up frozen with fear. Then came the most horrible high-pitched shrieking and gasping noises from across the stream. It sounded to us like a donkey groaning. We huddled closer to each other and after awhile we fell asleep.

We woke up early the next morning with the sunrise and decided to find out what had happened. To our surprise there were large paw tracts right through our campsite going across the river. Curiously we followed the tracts and some 50 yards away we found a large intact zebra skin, all bloodied, and completely cleaned of flesh right down to the skin. We saw vultures up in the trees and flying overhead with big bloody bones hanging from their jaws.

Two lions had chased a herd of zebra right through our campsite. One zebra didn’t make it. All of a sudden we were thankful that this was our last night in the wild and it was time to get back to Nairobi. We felt lucky that the lions preferred zebra meat to tourist meat.