When our oldest son was about 4 years old, he expressed concern that there might be monsters under his bed. We reassured him that there was no need to worry, because the nearest monsters were all in Chicago.
He had heard of Chicago, and while he wasn’t sure where that was, he knew it was not nearby. After thinking about it for a minute, he concluded he was safe, and the subject never came up again.
I was reminded of this story while thinking about the wildlife that abounds in the savannahs, jungles and rivers of Africa. In many parts of Africa, if you are not careful about how you secure your home, there literally could be monsters under your bed.
I try to imagine what life would be like here in the southwest metro if we had warthogs, lions, rhinos, crocodiles and such here. We would not want to swim in the area lakes for the risk of being taken by a croc. We would not want to ride the regional trail network for fear of being waylaid by a lion. We would not want to let our children walk to school or play in the backyard without an armed escort. We would be forced to develop all kinds of strategies for dealing with wildlife threats in and around our homes.
The Maasai people in the Tanzanian Serengeti have developed strategies to keep their families safe in an otherwise dangerous environment. They organize their mud hut dwellings around a central area for cattle with a sturdy fence around the perimeter. Historically, young Maasai men had to kill a lion to transition into manhood. As lion populations have declined, other cultural rituals (including serving as Lion Guardians) have evolved to replace that tradition.
The most fantastic thing I encountered in all of Africa was Maasai tribesmen walking alone through the Serengeti in their brightly colored robes, hours by jeep from the nearest village. They carried little more than a spear and a shield for protection. Never mind the hungry lions, cheetahs or leopards. Their extraordinary courage in this hostile environment was awe-inspiring.
We stayed one night in some nice little cabanas at a safari hotel in Tanzania. The hotel staff instructed us NOT to leave our rooms at night without calling the front desk for an armed escort.
Lions and other predators roamed free and could occasionally be seen wandering the grounds and drinking from the swimming pool. I never left my room at night.
Wildlife risks extend beyond the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. Kenya, South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, Namibia and Zimbabwe all have thriving safari tourism industries.
Hunting and photo safaris draw tourists from around the world to seek out the “big five,” which consists of the lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant and Cape buffalo. These aren’t the biggest creatures in Africa; they are the top five most difficult to hunt and dangerous to humans.
Some are surprised to see the Cape buffalo on the list, but this sturdy, well-armored animal wakes up every day in a bad mood and then doesn’t get its coffee. Safari tour guides give them plenty of elbow room.
Throughout Africa, animal species adapt and thrive in different places.
If you want to see the endangered white rhinoceros, for example, it is possible to see them in Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania, but it is far more likely to see them in Zambia.
Rhino poaching is a serious problem throughout Africa, and the Zambian government takes it very seriously. They maintain a rhino sanctuary that is guarded from poachers 24 hours per day by the Zambian military. If you are in the park after hours, their policy is to shoot first and ask questions later.
In Tanzania, elephants are scarce and they view humans as predators, so it is hard to get within a quarter mile of them.
In Botswana, elephants are plentiful and have no memory of being hunted by humans, so you can get within a couple of hundred yards before they will start to circle up their young, stamp their feet, flap their ears and trumpet at you.
You do not want to be the center of attention of an angry elephant. Just last year, a Minnesota woman was killed when an elephant unexpectedly charged her game drive vehicle in Zambia, and the guide was unable to get out of the way due to the terrain.
Most countries that host safari tourism have just a handful of licensed safari tour operators. The guides we used were competent, experienced and friendly.
Some of the camps reminded me of ocean cruises, in that it was “all buffet, all the time.” We had plenty to eat. Travel agents sell tour packages for camps at price points ranging from “roughing it” to glamping.
Most visitors wind up at the same handful of safari camps. Like the cabanas in Tanzania, don’t leave your tent at night. We would hear the animals outside at night and see their tracks through the camp in the mornings.
The economy in Zimbabwe, Botswana and many other African countries is pretty terrible. Hyperinflation in Zimbabwe was so bad that at one point they were issuing $1 million banknotes. Street peddlers really wanted us to buy some of those $1 million bills. The Euro and the U.S. dollar have mainly supplanted local currencies, so if you go, bring lots of small bills.
Another consequence of economic collapse in these countries is that everyone we met was grateful for our visit and our spending. Even at tiny roadside coffee shops, the locals would take the time to sincerely thank us for bringing our tourist dollars to their country.
It seems to me that while corruption and bad governance are primarily to blame for economic conditions in Africa, the simple fact of dangerous predators at your doorstep can only make things more difficult.
If we had to worry about crocodiles in the river or lions in the valley, surely that would impose some cost on our society. And our children would have to contend with the fact that yes, indeed, there might be monsters under the bed.
(Dan Keyport is a CCLN board member and former Chaska business owner, now retired. His home base for international travel has been Chaska for more than 30 years.)
