The Threat of Mugabe

Galdessa,Tsavo East

This morning Mugabe woke me up. At first there were stealthy footfalls then a crackling sound as something snapped under his feet. I felt his presence very close. I looked outside and he was standing about ten feet away.

Named after the Zimbabwean dictator “Because he is so mean and has a temper,” Mugabe hangs out around the palm thatched bungalow tents of the Tsavo camp. This full grown African elephant, with his wrinkled leathery skin, gigantic ears and impressive white tusks, breakfasts on trunkfuls of fresh leaves from acacia thickets outside my tent. Because of his unpredictable disposition and other wild interlopers I must have an escort each time I leave.

At 6:15 I left to join a bush drive and sure enough he was still there.  Not content with waking me up, he trundled into my pathway and just stood staring at me. I retreated. Elvis my tent guard, and Masai escort with ceremonial spear, waited until Mugabe felt the urge to take off to find another breakfast bush.

He will be back.  While I am at Galdessa Mugabe, it seems, will be part of my life.

TTFN