Since I arrived in this strange and wonderful continent a few years back, I had heard horror stories of wild baboons with human-like characteristics, but I never thought I would be the victim in such a story.
It is Sunday afternoon, and I am enjoying my Sabbath thoroughly. Suddenly, through my headphones I hear a loud thump coming from the rooftop. As I toss my laptop aside, I know it is one of two options: 1. The house is being broken into. 2. The house is being raided by baboons. As I open the door to my room, I give a shaky, “hello?”. No answer. My heart begins to race. Then I hear a raucous in the kitchen, and I know for sure that someone/something is certainly in the house. It sounds as if every dish in the kitchen were alive and having a party. I muster up one more, “hello?”. Again I get no answer. Panic sets in. This is payback for scaring Becca, and Kalyn is going to kill me!
I run to my room and lock the door. No way am I going to expose myself to wild animals known for capturing small people and dragging them off like a new member of the family (I have heard stories). I call Bethany, who tells me I need to go out there and make lots of noise. She also encourages me to leave the front door open so they can get out. This is preposterous. Not to mention, the lock on the front door gets stuck from the inside. I just pictured myself trying to get out of the front door, the lock getting stuck, and a big baboon coming towards me while my hands shake wildly, and I have no where to go. In the meantime I hear screeching that sounds like a cat in heat. Then I call a roommate and calmly ask her where she is. She is hiking on the mountain behind the house. Ha! The irony...the animals are in the house! She encourages me to make a run for it to the neighbors. “You can do it, Christina,” she says. I think fast and run to the room next door that has a door that leads outside. I make it, and run to the neighbors.
As the neighbor calmly walks in the house with a broom, I follow slowly behind him. I hear more noise on the roof. To my amazement they are no longer in the house. The professionals who keep the baboons out of the neighborhoods and in the mountains are there too. The kitchen window is wide open, but there are bars on this window. It hits me as the neighbor explains: the babies had been sent in to get the food on the counter and pass it on out to the parents! How can animals be that smart? Where do I live? What is this place?!?!?!?
Thankfully, not a dish in the kitchen had been broken. As I was locked in my room, I remembered a scene from Jumanji, and I pictured every dish being thrown on the floor, one by one, while the babs cheered each other on. Thank God that was not the case. The smell was disgusting and there was debris on the counter, but that can be taken care of. Minutes later my roommates showed up. Thank you, girls, for running home so quickly and with a vengeance. And thank you Alison for reading Bethany’s facebook status and coming to my rescue so quickly. Beth…thanks for exploiting my terror! You wrote your status while on the phone with me?!?!?!
I will always think twice before opening a window in South Africa, even one with bars on it.
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