Read this death defying account of sheer bravery!

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The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)
Tanzania: The Day I Looked Death in the Face

Elisha Mayallah

8 October 2011

opinion

Encounters with animals that roam the vast Tanzanian wildernesses are, to many people, through photos. But a more real, often life-threatening experience while on a game walk, game drive or hunting safari is what many of us need to discover the great mysteries of wildlife.

I had joined a small group on a hunting mission in the vast wilderness of the Maasailand, near Lake Natron, which is a two-hour bumpy ride from Arusha. And after the gruelling trip, I hoped to spot the elusive big game and find a little more adventure and excitement.

This was a guided hunting safari for me to experience the wide variety of wildlife and terrain in the hunting zone (game controlled area) while getting closer to mother 'nature' and experience its own ties.

We left our 4WD Landcruiser parked at a short distance. And for nearly two hours, we trekked through stretches of open land passing near the vicinity of Lake Natron. But despite our brave tracking - we did not find anything - no animals. The bush was quiet.

Horrible barking

Then suddenly we heard a horrible barking sound. "Buffalo, buffalo," said the patrons in the group, in squeaky whispers. A barking buffalo reminded me that we were in the heart of animal land. With a rapidly charging buffalo approaching, I started wondering whether I was going to make it back to Arusha. My sixth sense suggested that this could be my last-minute and hour!

"Be careful he is a wounded buffalo," warned one professional hunter in the group. But the real shock was when he advised us to distract the charging buffalo, without which, we would all be dead meat!

I looked at other people in the group. They were all terrified. The hunter encouraged us not to panic. Yet he provoked the buffalo with a stick, and the animal came at full speed to attack him. The hunter ordered us to run back to our Landcruiser, about 200 metres from the scene. It was the only way for us to survive, he told us!

Ferocious buffalo

We ran back, leaving the hunter struggling with the ferrous buffalo that was closing in on the man, ready to attack. Eventually, when he had made sure that all of us were safely seated in the vehicle, the hunter motioned to the driver in the vehicle to drive the car towards the buffalo. What a trick?

It was then that the buffalo gave up the chase. It suddenly stopped, but still threatening, and looking straight at the hunter, the animal kept on barking. It watched furiously from a short distance as our driver revved up the engine to 'knock him down'. It was a mock attempt.

Meanwhile, from the vehicle, we looked at one another as I felt blood flowing in the veins of my head. And after he had joined us in the vehicle, the hunter looked at me sternly, as tears ran down my cheeks. He spoke with some difficulty, "Mungu ni Mkubwa!' Literally, 'God is great'.

It took almost 10 more minutes before the buffalo finally withdrew and walked away in anger. After a while, I realised the hunter was a man of his words, and one could trust him with his life, which we did.

To me, the hunter is one person that passed the test of nature and now glad (at long last) that I have experienced a very unusual travel adventure.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201110100308.html