A Feth's Perspective on Life: When Baboons Attack

There we were, stomachs growling, mouths drooling, ready to dive into the lovely picnic Anna and Greg had packed for our safari group of five when out of nowhere: ATTACK OF THE CRAZY BABOONS!!!!!

They came from all angles, underneath benches, leaping from tree limbs, these large, ferocious, angry browed baboons. Their mission: consume as much highly processed sugary foods stolen from the trunks and coolers of silly humans as possible.

Fortunately it wasn't our picnic lunch they stole. We had the luxury of witnessing stupid humans dole out their treats while lurking baboons waited for the right moment to spring. Just minutes after spreading out all the fixings, the large hairy primates lunged for a bag of chips and another whisked away a handful of goodies.

It was clear we could not enjoy our lunch at the aptly named Baboon Lookout which gave fantastic views of Nakuru National Park where we were spending our day on safari. Anna, Greg, Payal, (all from TNS) along with Brian and I instead took in the views on empty stomachs while keeping our distance from the furry food predators.

As it came time for us to depart and find another picnic location one of the baboons took rest on the hood of Anna and Greg's SUV. Not long after that one popped a squat, another joined, positioning himself so he could peer through the back window at our awaiting lunch. He tried to open the handle, he even picked at the fuel tank door. He was unsuccessful (thankfully Greg had just locked the vehicle) so decided to just hang out.

Payal and I were both in agreement that we were not going to get in the way of any baboon that wanted to sit on top of an SUV. Greg and Anna (having lived in Kenya for several years now) were much more brave and weren't going to stand idly by while baboons took charge of their vehicle. So they approached, Anna stomping her feet on the ground, and Greg yelling at the male baboon in an ultra manly voice in order to exude his alpha status. The male baboon didn't take too kindly to this confrontation and yelled back a couple of times but in the end took off and we humans were once again in charge of the Rav4.

The rest of the day proved to be less strenuous, no more crazy altercations with the wildlife. Although I did sense a few water buffalos giving me the stink eye - but I didn't want to cause a scene so I let it pass.

After our safari we headed north to an out of the way farm where you can stay overnight in quaint little bandas or what your average hobbit would occupy. There we enjoyed dinner and an enjoyable evening with one another.

The next morning we took our time checking out the nature walks and farm animals available to the guests. The air was so fresh and the landscape lush with vivid green foliage and speckled with an array of beautiful flowers.

We took our time heading back to Nairobi, taking in the beautiful green scenery (such a nice change of pace from the past four year drought). Our journey had taken us across the Equator the night before so this time we had to stop and take photos. We witnessed the amazing effects of the poles whereby when you place a toothpick in a bowl of water and walk about 20 meters north of the equator that toothpick will rotate clockwise. If you do the same thing 20 meters south of the equator that toothpick will rotate counterclockwise. And at the equator it won't move a bit. Neat!

After the equator, it was back to Nairobi after a nice stop for lunch.

Speaking of lunch, a few other folks from the TNS office (we won't name any names) also ventured to Nakuru over the weekend. Unfortunately, they were not able to peacefully enjoy their packed lunch, instead they had to helplessly sit by and watch the baboons enjoying it - inside their car!!!

View along the drive to Nakuru