Finally our troubled land cruiser decided it wasn’t going any further no matter what. We were not far from exiting the lion infested Savuti Park into the almost equally lion infested Chobe National Park.
By Nkossie Masocha
Even as a trainee, I was allowed to suggest a possible solution to our setback– ‘Let’s put all necessary equipment in the guests’ vehicle and let them proceed rather than for everyone to be stuck ’. What a plausible idea, however it was agreed that I stayed behind till help comes… but when was help coming?
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As guests were driving off, I immediately pitched up a tent, in case the Savuti pride showed up quickly and snacked on us. John laughed, “You are so full of fear” While he spoke, there was a sound of ‘something’ walking on fallen dry leaves among the trees, most trees were roughly the height of my shoulder. The foliage was thick enough to conceal a carnivore of any size. The road was the only place without trees. The suspicious sounds went on and on – I was frozen, John was frozen…or maybe even more frozen. “Maybe it’s an elephant”, John thought aloud, this was not the right time for jokes, “…..an elephant would be taller than trees”, I reasoned.
I wanted to jump into the vehicle but it was ‘crippled’ and on a high lift jack. Then there was silence ….I felt my intestines churning within me as anxiety was building up. ‘Whatever was in the bushes was all set to pounce and eat, I was about to become a spring roll’. The sounds started again interrupting my uncomfortable thoughts …. A few metres ahead of us, a dozen “blue helmets” showed up and ran along the road away from us… so we were afraid of guinea fowls? Out of relief, feeling foolish, we thawed from our frozen state.
A vehicle came by, John was generous with our barbecued meat and little was left for us yet we did not have a clue how long we would be grounded. I took my quickest bath ever behind the truck noting every sound or movement even grasses or leaves blown by the wind were treated with utter suspicion!
Night came, around 3am I wanted the toilet so badly but could hear lions roaring at a distance, “…do you hear lions?” I woke John, “We’re in a Park, what do you expect?” he said and was already snoring before I could tell him I needed a bodyguard to the ‘bathroom’. Waiting for the morning was a real nightmare. The day was without events apart from that occasional car that would come through, hear our story and say, ‘Oh! You will be ok!’ and move on – we were rescued later in the day.
Overlanding is vehicle-based, on-road and off-road, adventure travel with a focus on self-reliance, resilience, and enjoyment of the journey. Since the dawn of four-wheel drive vehicles, modern overlanding has captured the imagination of eager adventurers worldwide.
Nkossie Masocha is the Head Safari Guide / Tour Leader at Thanda Africa Safaris
