Monkeying Around in South Africa

 

The August of 2018 I was given the  chance to travel to South Africa and live there for 2 weeks.

I was a bit nervous at the thought of traveling for 18 hours in planes to our destination.  

I am glad I went to see this country.  I fell in love with the animals and trees.  I was treated like family by our guide-Pieter, his family, and employees.  A very memorable trip!

The second week of our stay, my husband, our guide, and I traveled to the famed Kruger National Park.

The trip was a little lengthy, but well worth seeing other parts of South Africa.  

Fruit stands were dotted here and there on the main road.  We passed through towns, fruit orchards, and housing areas.

Fruit stand

Older homes

Fruit orchard

We entered the gates of Kruger National Park. Yahoo, we're here!

At first, the park looked like a lot of brush and flat land.  I didn't see much, thinking the land was similar to the Arizona desert, USA.  Lots of dry brush and lack of large animals.  A person may feel they are safe getting out of their vehicle due to nothing around except for brush.

As soon as I thought those thoughts, I started to see animals, birds, etc. here and there.  Most animals in the wild will not be just standing around in plain sight for a tourist to see.  Wild animals will always be sleeping, grazing, or hiding.  

Campsite

The entrance to our campsite!  

These campsites in the middle of the wild South Africa are very nice.  They keep people safe with strict rules to follow. 

 One was, do not be late driving back to your campsite.  Because if you are, you will not be allowed to enter due to locked gates.  You will have to drive to a town or sleep in your car.  The gates close at an exact time to help keep all lodgers safe inside from wild animals, etc.

My two stories started inside this camp, Letaba.  The camp consists of a museum, well-furnished cabins that look like huts, a shop that has food and touristy stuff, and a check-in building.

My husband and our guide Pieter, needed to check us in for the night.  I said I would stand outside watching all the local Vervet monkeys play around.  This was the year I started to use my new camera.  I was over-joyed with the idea of getting animal photographic shots, including these playful, fun to watch monkeys.

I stood mainly on a sandy-dirt road/walking area/parking lot area.  The monkeys were a blast to watch with their antics.

I noticed there were a few baby monkeys as well.  

I was memorized watching this barrel of monkeys.

As I stood there alone, while my husband and Pieter were in the check-in building, I soon realized one monkey that stood by itself in the middle of the road about 100 feet from me had been watching me closely.

Apparently, he was either feeling stressed that I was watching the barrel of monkeys/his family and he decided to show me who was the boss was or he was going to play a joke on me.

I never would of guessed what would of happened next.

This lone monkey came running straight at me!  Just like a bull, charging at a matador. 

 Immediately, I started to think of this monkey jumping on top of me and biting me.  All the potential virus and bacteria his salvia was carrying and I was in the middle of the wild in a foreign country! 

And so, I did what any other wise person would of done.  I turned around and ran down the road!!!

But as I ran, I had a thought of a T.V. series I used to watch, Kung Fu with David Carradine. 

 I remembered his Kung Fu kick towards bullies.  

And so, in a quick, precise motion, I turned around and gave the bully monkey the best Kung Fu kick I could muster.

(Bringing back to mind my Kick Boxing exercise class.)

And within that same single second in time, I had a thought of 

 a Harry Potter episode come to me.  I thought of the time Hermione had been picked up by a giant.  The giant was emotionally immature acting out of loneliness. 

  Hermione became like a Mom. She pointed her finger at the giant and with a very stern voice, she told the giant, "NO.  Put me down."

And so, within a spilt second, as I brought my leg down from the Kung Fu kick, I leaned toward the monkey, pointed my finger at him and with a strong, stern voice, I yelled, "NO."

Immediately, the monkey sat down and just looked at me.

At this moment, I saw my moment of opportunity.  I did what most wise people would of done, I walked fast towards the check-in building.

As I entered the building, I found out immediately by my husband and Pieter that they and the whole building of people had been watching me, amused with what was happening to me and the monkey.  

And so, if you're ever in a predicament like this, just follow your gut instinct!  It works well.

After that incident, Pieter had told me if a monkey acts that way, you need to basically pull rank on him and be firm and strong in your actions towards it.  Otherwise, the monkey will take advantage.

Yep, and that is what I did.

The second story of my adventures in South Africa begins another day on this blog. 

By Cynthia Bergsbaken

March 9, 2022 

A true life story of touring South Africa.

*All original content is copyrighted by Cynthia Bergsbaken, Perceptive Blogger & Reiki in the Prairie LLC.
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April 11, 2020
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