Mwizi!! Mwizi!!!
Good friends would have yelled that to warn us. It means ‘Thief! Thief!” which is exactly what had jumped in through the pop-up roof as our driver Philip and I were trying to quickly close the roof to prevent just that.
Good friends would have yelled that to warn us. It means ‘Thief! Thief!” which is exactly what had jumped in through the pop-up roof as our driver Philip and I were trying to quickly close the roof to prevent just that.
It happened so quickly. We had arrived at the park entrance for Ngornongoro Crater and pulling over in the parking lot, everyone got out to stretch their legs, take some pictures and look at the baboons who seemed to be coming towards us to offer a friendly Swahili ‘karibu’ (you are welcome).
Philip understood their true intent which
was not as polite, they were thieves!
Some of the others were taking pictures, fascinated in their interest of our arrival. I would have been the same I’m sure.
Before Mark could warn us, the “nyani mwizi” (baboon thief!) used the tires on the bumper of the Land Rover to skillfully pop himself (herself??) up over the roof and into the backseat.
That’s when Philip and I turned around…I’m not sure if someone yelled to tell us or we just turned but what I know is that there was a large baboon about 5 feet away from us.
Some of the others were taking pictures, fascinated in their interest of our arrival. I would have been the same I’m sure.
Before Mark could warn us, the “nyani mwizi” (baboon thief!) used the tires on the bumper of the Land Rover to skillfully pop himself (herself??) up over the roof and into the backseat.
That’s when Philip and I turned around…I’m not sure if someone yelled to tell us or we just turned but what I know is that there was a large baboon about 5 feet away from us.
The baboons around the entrance are being habituated by tourism and have come to learn that if they get into the vehicle, they may get some food.
Fortunately I was with “shujaa Philip” or “hero Philip!"
We were standing side-by-side and he stepped forward with a kick in the air that made me wonder if we should bring him back to play in our Out For Kicks soccer League! The baboon was equally impressed and seeing nothing to grab (only a bag of coffee beans), he decided to exit through the same pop-up roof he came in.
The next morning at 6’ish, we were the
first group to enter the crater and had an amazing day! Here are some of the
pictures we were fortunate to capture (the group had over 1500 pictures unedited for
sure – the beauty of digital cameras!)
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