Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Baboons

Probably the best part of the safari was the baboons. They would jump right up on your vehicle and peer in the windows. They'd ride along on your car jumping on the hood or clinging to the mirrors. They would also tear anything and everything apart that they possibly could! They pulled the rubber right off of the top of my van as well as some from under my windshield wipers. And my van was not the only victim! We saw them ripping things off of other cars as well. So, when they warn you at the gate that if you choose to drive through with your own vehicle that there is the possibility of damage - they are speaking the TRUTH!

We saw TONS of baby baboons hanging from their mamma's breasts. We didn't spot them at first - but then once we noticed them they were EVERYWHERE!!!! One mama came right up to our van and sat down next to it then proceeded to rip her little baby off her breast and maul the poor little thing. We could not believe how rough she was with her little baby and could not imagine it surviving very long at all under those circumstances. Another baboon was desperately trying to rescue the little baby but she would then snatch him up and run off with it. She seemed to be the only mama acting so strangely and we wondered if maybe this little baby really wasn't her own... but the baby kept trying to reattach itself to this mama... It was very disturbing to watch! I meant to ask someone about it - but forgot!!

Unfortunately I didn't get any good pix of the baboons. We had to keep the windows closed cuz they would climb right in your windows if they were open! (Boy did it ever get hot and stuffy in that van with 6 people and no air-conditioning and weather in the 90's with the windows shut tight!!!!) So that made it extra difficult to get good pix...

2 comments:

Priscilla said...

Sounds scary. I went with my church youth group about 25 years ago. We took the tour bus through!

Shelly said...

Well... I suppose it would have been scary if I was in a brand new vehicle - but it wasn't a major deal being in my van.