I'm feeling super skittish right now after my encounter with a HUGE baboon! (BTW this isn't a picture of the baboon I encountered) I love monkeys and I'm fascinated by them and I thought it would be really cool to see one while I was here. I just never thought it would be up close and personal.
Hillary and I were unpacking our bags in our outdoor tent in Livingstone when she saw a momma and a baby baboon go by. I was so disappointed I missed them. A few minutes later Hillary left to the office while I finished unpacking. I had just hung a garbage bag on the back of the chair on our little patio outside our tent. There was an empty water bottle and a banana peel in there.
The next thing I knew there was a HUGE male baboon on the step to our tent looking in at me. He was a little bit skittish as was I....we looked at each other. He would move. Then I would move. He didn't seem to care much that I was there....not really afraid. He grabbed my grocery bag off the chair and ripped out the banana peel and ate it. I kept my eyes on him the whole time and was wondering if I should grab my camera or run. I tried to call Hillary but she didn't hear me. No one was around.
By now the baboon wanted more food and he knew I had it. We had a cool interaction yet I was scared to death at the same time. I was wondering what he was going to do next. I tried to untie the tent so I could close it but it was knotted up. The baboon was really jumpy but very forward. I was going to run but I knew he would destroy our tent and who knows maybe he would run off with our passports!
So a few seconds later he came towards me and started to reach to open our tent...mind you we're only about 3 feet away from each other before he walked towards me. I felt trapped. He was almost as tall as me squatting. He had huge strong fingers and gigantic yellow teeth. His eyes were very human like and determined. To say the least my heart was racing.....
So I acted quickly and grabbed a banana off our shelf and threw it out into the grass. He ran after it and started to eat it. I zipped the tent and RAN! I found Hillary and the staff right away They ran so fast towards our tent to throw rocks at the baboon to get him to run away...which he did...after he ate the banana of course.
I didn't realize how scared I was until after it happened. I had no idea that I might have to use my self defense skills to get away from a baboon! We saw the whole family later that night across the river...and he even looked gigantic from a distance.
After a few hours I felt better but I was fairly jumpy and the rest of the night....Hillary was a great sport to put up with me!
Now when I look back on it I can laugh...too bad it wasn't caught on film!
Just wanted to sum up that we saw so many cool animals just by chance. We saw about 5 elephants driving back home last night and ate dinner with the cutest little bush baby....he literally flew out of the tree, landed on our picnic table and started to lick our yogurt lid....not afraid at all.
Then we had the privilege of watching the hippos come down the water last night...they were amazing to watch. The way they would open & close their mouths in the water. We were on edge just in case they decided to climb up the little hill towards us. They're so fast! We found out that they were on the lawn a few hours later. They are one of the most dangerous animals here to people.
This morning we woke up and the elephants were back in our camp this time.....so beautiful. It's so incredible to see them outside of a zoo...where they should be. We also saw a crocodile sun bathing in the afternoon heat. It's so wild to be so close to all of these animals. We are grateful we saw them with out even looking for them!
-gia
Once again I apologize for my horrible grammar and sentence structure. For some reason my brain isn't working properly. I think I'm so engrossed in my experience that I've lost all control over my language skills and typing skills....I just want to keep the stories coming to you......
Hillary and I were unpacking our bags in our outdoor tent in Livingstone when she saw a momma and a baby baboon go by. I was so disappointed I missed them. A few minutes later Hillary left to the office while I finished unpacking. I had just hung a garbage bag on the back of the chair on our little patio outside our tent. There was an empty water bottle and a banana peel in there.
The next thing I knew there was a HUGE male baboon on the step to our tent looking in at me. He was a little bit skittish as was I....we looked at each other. He would move. Then I would move. He didn't seem to care much that I was there....not really afraid. He grabbed my grocery bag off the chair and ripped out the banana peel and ate it. I kept my eyes on him the whole time and was wondering if I should grab my camera or run. I tried to call Hillary but she didn't hear me. No one was around.
By now the baboon wanted more food and he knew I had it. We had a cool interaction yet I was scared to death at the same time. I was wondering what he was going to do next. I tried to untie the tent so I could close it but it was knotted up. The baboon was really jumpy but very forward. I was going to run but I knew he would destroy our tent and who knows maybe he would run off with our passports!
So a few seconds later he came towards me and started to reach to open our tent...mind you we're only about 3 feet away from each other before he walked towards me. I felt trapped. He was almost as tall as me squatting. He had huge strong fingers and gigantic yellow teeth. His eyes were very human like and determined. To say the least my heart was racing.....
So I acted quickly and grabbed a banana off our shelf and threw it out into the grass. He ran after it and started to eat it. I zipped the tent and RAN! I found Hillary and the staff right away They ran so fast towards our tent to throw rocks at the baboon to get him to run away...which he did...after he ate the banana of course.
I didn't realize how scared I was until after it happened. I had no idea that I might have to use my self defense skills to get away from a baboon! We saw the whole family later that night across the river...and he even looked gigantic from a distance.
After a few hours I felt better but I was fairly jumpy and the rest of the night....Hillary was a great sport to put up with me!
Now when I look back on it I can laugh...too bad it wasn't caught on film!
Just wanted to sum up that we saw so many cool animals just by chance. We saw about 5 elephants driving back home last night and ate dinner with the cutest little bush baby....he literally flew out of the tree, landed on our picnic table and started to lick our yogurt lid....not afraid at all.
Then we had the privilege of watching the hippos come down the water last night...they were amazing to watch. The way they would open & close their mouths in the water. We were on edge just in case they decided to climb up the little hill towards us. They're so fast! We found out that they were on the lawn a few hours later. They are one of the most dangerous animals here to people.
This morning we woke up and the elephants were back in our camp this time.....so beautiful. It's so incredible to see them outside of a zoo...where they should be. We also saw a crocodile sun bathing in the afternoon heat. It's so wild to be so close to all of these animals. We are grateful we saw them with out even looking for them!
-gia
Once again I apologize for my horrible grammar and sentence structure. For some reason my brain isn't working properly. I think I'm so engrossed in my experience that I've lost all control over my language skills and typing skills....I just want to keep the stories coming to you......
