Where the Wild Things Are A #CUWild Story

In June 2015, I traveled to southern Africa with my family. The first leg of our trip was 10 days on safari in Botswana. It truly was a wild trip. We had 10 days of absolute isolation – traveling through the bush during the day and pitching a tent at night.

We did everything we could to leave our surroundings untouched. We did not use flash photography. We did not disturb animals with noise and sudden movements when we were near them. We placed enormous trust in the animals to not charge or attack if we got too close. The philosophy was that if we didn’t disturb them, they would not disturb us. I took this philosophy to heart when we had close encounters with the wild animals, but as you will soon read, we had a hard time sticking to it when it counted most.

We stayed at each camp for two to three days. They were all by watering holes that drew the wildlife to us. Because we set up camp near areas prone to animal traffic there was a lot of activity in our camp both during the day and while we were in our tent at night. During the day, we had elephants and buffalo wander through our camp and during the night one could hear the animals roaring, grunting, sniffing, breathing, and tramping right by us. We were separated from the animals by a canvas tent and a zip but that didn’t stop them from sniffing us as we lay completely still under the blankets. It was a menagerie both outside the tent and in our imaginations at night as we tried to guess what was making all those noises. In the morning we would search around the tent to find tracks from lions, leopards, hippos, and other animals. One night, my brother was convinced that a lion was roaring, about to attack until he realized that it was just me….snoring.

One night, we encountered a pride of lions in our camp. My brother found them when he went to use the toilet, a hole in the ground. This was meant to be used only during the day, as it was a little bit away from our tents and not safe to venture to in the dark when the predators have the advantage of their nocturnal eyes. On that night, he ventured into the darkness armed only with a flashlight and a full bladder. As he was sitting there, shining his flashlight into the darkness, he spotted a pair of eyes looking straight back at him. A moment later, he was looking at a pride of lions about 30 feet away. He didn’t know what to do. Should he call for help, remain silent and still, make a run for it? He ended up calling us over with a whispered “LION, LION LION!” We came scampering over to see what the fuss was about with our combined flashlights, like 5 searchlights waving their beams into the dark. We saw four lions sitting in a row examining us quietly. We, of course, forgot all about our plans to stay quiet and still when close to a dangerous predator. Our adrenaline spike caused a whole lot of raucous and disturbance. The lions stood their ground for a minute longer and then got up and walked away into the darkness.

During the day, we traveled around in a car to find game. We passed enormous families of giraffe, elephant, zebra, warthog, buffalo, wild dog, hyena, impala, baboon, vervet monkey, and more. We saw a leopard kill an impala and start to eat it right in front of us then get chased away by a pack of hyena who took the carcass for themselves. We saw a pride of seven lions waking up from a day relaxing in the sun to hunt for the evening. We tracked lion cub footprints to their den and vultures to find fresh kills and the action surrounding them. We saw families of elephants stampeding to a river to drink and then swimming across it and playing in the mud. At one point when we passed a family of elephants on either side of the road, I saw in my mind’s eye the pearly gates with elephants on either side instead of angels.

Even when we ended our safari at a hotel, the animals were ever-present. In the morning I was ready to reach for a pastry from the extravagant breakfast buffet when a vervet monkey swooped down and stole them all from the tray!

That kind of a trip, where you are with your closest family in the middle of the bush for 10 days is

not only a time to experience the wild but also a time to truly bond with your fellow travelers. At the beginning, everyone was on their best behavior, but after about three days we all started to let our guard down. My siblings and I were able to break down walls that had formed over the years since we had grown up and left home. The close quarters and long days on the road led to moments of hilarity and moments of deep connection as we got to know each other again in the African wilderness.

Laura Miller ’14