A walk on the wild side
Phil Clisby travels through Nigeria as he continues his early ’90s overland escapade across Africa, and gets rather more than he bargained for in the Yankari National Park
Just after entering Nigeria we come to a police stop. A tall, well-built policeman jumps onto our truck and starts chatting away – a really friendly man, full of smiles and laughs.
Suddenly, he smacks his left forearm with his right fist really hard, repeatedly.
“I’m really strong,” he tells us.
He turns to Martin. “Hit me,” he says. Not one to disobey the law, Martin gets stuck in – walloping him as hard as he can on the arm, as instructed.
The cop sucks it up. He stands stock still, breathes in deeply, puffing his chest out – rock hard and mean-looking, showing his strength. He then breaks into a broad smile and, chuckling, he disembarks and waves us on our way. Point proved.
I’m going to enjoy this place, I thought.
We travel on, through the north of the country, towards the Yankari National Park. On arrival, after several days on the road, we are grateful to park up. We head straight down to some natural hot springs, watching out for a family of baboons that patrol the pathway.
Hidden in the forest, a picturesque, welcoming blue expanse of water perfectly heated at a constant 31°C awaits us. We dive straight in.
It is blissful, just floating around, cleansing the grime out of my skin, while watching monkeys swing around the trees.
Suitably refreshed, we return to the campsite and set up camp for the night. There are baboons everywhere, wreaking havoc.
Very early the next morning, I’m rudely awoken by a noise directly above my head.
Baboons are raiding the truck.
Read the full blog to discover the bare-bottomed cheek of baboons, the magic of an unusual first game drive and what it’s like to come face to trunk with an elephant |
