South African Animals

What we saw as we drove the tar roads and sand roads of Kruger was breathtaking. We tried to soak everything in.  It was impossible.  Photo after photo was snapped on cameras - not phones. People held small camcorders aiming at anything that moved. The driver announced we were not going to stop to take photos of anymore impala since we had seen no less than 500 and taken nearly as many photos.

At 9:30, it was time for a break. A time to stretch our legs, use the bathroom and probably review photos. And that's exactly not what happened to me the first time I actually stepped on the ground inside the park.  

As we pulled into the parking space there was a big green and white sign fastened to the wall.  DO NOT FEED THE ANIMALS!  200R FINE! EXPULSION FROM THE PARK.  I wondered what animals would be inside the picnic spot weren't there fences?  My husband told me to pay attention to my surroundings.  Stun shocked I agreed and was a little apprehensive of that first step.

And then on the third step it happened. A large baboon caming running up.  I looked at him but did not pay much attention.  Suddenly it changed course and out of now where it came running up behind and me and gave me a good slap on the butt and kept on running. I jumped in the air.  My husband looked around trying to figure out what happened.  He just asked me if I was ok and reiterated to me to pay attention.

The picnic space was very  small.  And of all of our years of returning to Kruger we have never found it again.  There were a few benches and some good size boulders to sit on.  The fence was a typical brown wooden fence about three feet high.  The only thing that fence was going to stop was people wandering into the bush.

There was a small shop located in the corner of the picnic area.  It again had the large green and white sign.  DO NOT FEED THE ANIMALS!  R200 FINE! EXPULSION FROM THE PARK! I climbed the short flight of stairs and entered the shop.  They had fresh coffee, a few hand made items and a lovely assortment of baked goods.  I went for a cellophane bag of soetkoekies- a basic South African sugar cookie. The cellophane bag was neatly tied with a pink ribbon, but not in a bow- instead in knot. So me and my cookies, pulled up a rock. I studied the knot.  As I was using my fingernails to work the ribbon, the same baboon made his move.  Running now from a tree, he immediately, somehow, was standing on two legs in front of me and grabbed the bag of cookies. 

And I, for what ever reason, did not let go!. So there we were two primates in a battle for the cookies. I equaled all of his pulls with all of my strength pulling in the opposite direction.  Not only was he pulling he was also yelling at me.  OOW!! OOW!!.  When my husband tells the story he also says that I was OOW!! OOWING!! at the Baboon. Again two primates yelling and pulling and for a bag of cookies.  I was not really afraid.  I was not really that hungry.  I just did not want to feed the animals.

I don't know how long this battle went on.  But soon my husband had had enough.  He had been looking in amazement from the rock next to me.  All he did was stand up.  No yelling, no clapping, no stamping he just stood up and took a single step.  Immediately the baboon let go of the bag and looked me straight in the eyes.  We had been at the same eye level the whole time with me sitting on a boulder and him standing on his legs.

He stared at me to say, "You win this time" but he was a sore loser.

Before he headed back to the tree, he looked at me again, raised his hand  above his head and then swung it down as a hard slap on my thigh.  He had given up and ran to his tree and watched me eat my cookies. 

Baboons do not care about fences, as just about everyone knows that has had something stolen by baboons.  It was not until our week with a ranger at Crystal Spring Mountain did my husband and I find out how dangerous that encounter could have been.