Left Behind

You only jumped out of the Land Rover for a second to take a photo. How did the rest of your tour group not notice? You were standing right beside the vehicle taking photos of a giraffe. It’s not like you walked off somewhere.

The next thing you know, dust is flying and you are breathing exhaust fumes as the Land Rover races off after the pride of lions your group has been following all morning.

‘Wait for me!’ you scream as loud as you can. ‘Wait for me!’

Unfortunately, the sound of the revving diesel engine drowns out your cries. Surely one of your family members on the safari will notice you are missing. Maybe that nice teacher lady from Chicago you were chatting to earlier will wonder where you are. Won’t the driver realize he’s one person short?

You smack yourself on the forehead. This will teach you for sitting alone in the back row while the others on the safari sat up front to hear the driver’s commentary.

‘This is not good,’ you say to yourself.

What are you going to do now? It’s just as well you packed a few emergency supplies in your daypack before you boarded the tour. You have bottled water, a couple of sandwiches, a chocolate bar, your pocket knife and your trusty camera. But these things won’t help you if you are seen by hungry lions, leopards, cheetah or one of the other predators that stalk the savannah.

With the vehicle now only a puff of dust in the distance, you notice something else much closer, a pack of hyenas. These scavengers weren’t a problem when you were in the vehicle, but now you are on foot and the hyenas are heading your way!

You know from all the books on African wildlife you’ve read, these dog-like animals can be vicious and have been known to work as a team to bring down much larger animals. They would have no problem making short work of you if they wanted to.

If they find you out here all alone in the Serengeti National Park, you will be in big trouble.

You look around. What should you do? You know that normally the thing to do when you get lost is to stay put so others can find you when they come looking, but the hyenas make that impossible.

Off to your right is a large acacia tree that you might be able to climb, while on your left is a dried up creek bed.

With the hyenas getting closer you have to move.

You need to make a decision. Do you:

Run over and climb up the large acacia tree?

Or:

Climb down into the dried up creek bed so you are out of view?