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 Author | Topic: Safari in Kenya (Read 3,114 times) |
bjd
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|  | Re: Safari in Kenya
« Reply #60 on Nov 28, 2010, 7:09am » | ![[Quote]](http://images.proboards.com/buttons/quote.gif "[Quote]") |
Stories of close calls remind me of a friend telling me about a trip to Tanzania (Kilimanjaro) for a wedding anniversary. They were on an organized trip and were camping. Since most of the people on the trip were middle-aged, some of them had to get up at night to pee. But one night they were warned that there was a buffalo hanging around between the tents and the latrine so nobody could go to the toilet!
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spindrift
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| | Re: Safari in Kenya
« Reply #61 on Nov 28, 2010, 10:25am » | |
Bixa ! I would bite...
I couldn't believe how it nearly happened however. Just shows one can't take anything for granted in the bush.
My hubby and I were going out onto a lake in Botswana. We were camping near the waterside. We were told that our dug-out canoe was ready. We walked to the water's edge where an African was holding it by the prow, it was already in the water of course.
I squelched into the mud to get into it. As I was about to put my other foot down into the mud the African tapped me on my knee and pointed out this deadly Puff Adder beneath my foot! Yikes.
He knew it was there all the time and he didn't attempt to move it. I had to climb over it. My god I was so close to death and a horrible one at that.
I mean to say, why didn't the guy move the boat to another position? or attempt to move the snake? just shows you what you're up against.
there would be most help for me in the deep interior of the Okavango swamps. I would have died.
Why couldn't he have even told me about the snake under my foot before I approached the boat?
or perhaps he hadnt seen it! Who knows.
Anyway I carried on regardless.
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spindrift
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bixaorellana
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| | Re: Safari in Kenya
« Reply #63 on Nov 29, 2010, 6:02am » | |
Oh pleeeaze, Spindrift! You have alluded to your time in Africa here and there, and you must have so many interesting memories to share!
The snake's camouflage is really effective.
Gosh, Bjd -- at least some of those people must have wee-weed right next to the tents that night.
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spindrift
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| | Re: Safari in Kenya
« Reply #64 on Nov 29, 2010, 7:55pm » | |
Yes, I have many memories, some of them interesting...and I will share them....soon!
Bixa - do you have many snakes in Mexico?
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bixaorellana
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| | Re: Safari in Kenya
« Reply #65 on Nov 29, 2010, 8:26pm » | |
Thanks ~~ I'll hold you to that!
There must be many snakes here, as there are so many different climate regions. I've only seen maybe three or four the whole time I've lived here, though.
I had a mouse problem in a previous house. One day I was at the computer with my back to the door when I felt A Presence. I turned around and the big snake that was slithering in was as surprised as I was. Wish he'd come all the way in and gotten rid of the mice for me!
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kerouac2
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| | Re: Safari in Kenya
« Reply #66 on Nov 29, 2010, 8:46pm » | |
Regarding 'African behaviour,' I think it depends on the various cultures. When we got stuck in the mud with the minibus in the Masai Mara, quite a few Masai came up to watch the spectacle without lifting a finger. The driver went to ask the Pakistani lorry drivers if they would help to push us out in exchange for appropriate compensation.
My father was quite surprised, because there were a lot more Masai available, and probably not as interested in money. "Can't you ask them to help?" he wanted to know.
Our guide said, "No, the Masai cannot help."
My father did not understand this reply, but the guide explained that the Masai do not have a conception of cause and effect. If something happens, it just happens, and there is nothing you can do about it. It is destiny.
You probably experienced the same thing, Spindrift. If it was your destiny to be killed by the puff adder, so be it. The guy taking care of the boat was just there to be a witness. 
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bixaorellana
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| | Re: Safari in Kenya
« Reply #67 on Nov 29, 2010, 8:59pm » | |
That is extremely interesting, Kerouac.
It reminds me of that principle in Star Trek, whereby nothing could ever be done to another culture that might alter the course of its destiny.
On the other hand, the Masai could have been silently laughing at the arrogant vehicles come to grief while plowing through their ancestral lands.
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bjd
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| | Re: Safari in Kenya
« Reply #68 on Nov 30, 2010, 2:36pm » | |
I think there is also the thing in Kenya, at least, about the way tribes see each other. I'm sure Mark could say more about this, but I remember our guide (a Kikuyu) being totally contemptuous about the Masai. He said they didn't send their children to school, whereas if he didn't send his, people would look down on him.
There is a really interesting book about a Swiss woman who married a Masai. Guaranteed culture shock, of course.
http://www.amazon.com/White-Masai-Corinne-Hofmann/dp/0061131520
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onlymark
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| | Re: Safari in Kenya
« Reply #69 on Nov 30, 2010, 3:10pm » | |
bjd, I've encountered the same thing. One time was with a taxi driver attached to the hotel I usually stayed in and I rode with him quite a few times. He was Akamba I seem to remember and even though he shares more or less a common tribal language with the Kikuyu (I think), he was quite scathing of them as they'd 'sold out' more to westernism than his 'tribe'.
Mind you, he was quite scathing of most of the tribes, especially the Masai and to a slightly lesser extent, the Samburu as he thought they were now just playing at being true to their tribal traditions just to get the tourist dollars.
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komsomol
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| | Re: Safari in Kenya
« Reply #70 on Nov 30, 2010, 6:24pm » | |
Even Western cultures are corrupted by the presence of tourists & their cash with fake markets and folklore festivals. No reason for Kenya to be different.
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