Hungry Baboons

We noticed the over-abundance of baboons at Nakuru National Park. Initially, we thought they were kind of cute, especially the babies. We soon realized why the baboons were also very interested in us.

We drove up to Baboon Cliff where you can look down and see most of the park. Park guards approached us and told us to roll up our windows since the baboons like to steal food from cars. We followed their recommendations. We then noticed a very large baboon checking us out. We very carefully took some pictures of the baboon, then decided to leave.

Before we drove off, I decided to go into the trunk to get a snack out of the cooler for the kids. Big Mistake. All of a sudden, I heard a loud thud next to me. My first thought was, "I thought I buckled the kids in. How did one of them get out of their car seat and jump back here??" Next thing I knew, a big hairy arm reached in front of me, knocked the lid off the cooler, and snatched a ziplock bag of fruit. The baboon then took off with the park guards trying to chase after him. All of this happened in a matter of seconds! It took awhile to get over the shock that a baboon was inches from me. Bryan said he looked in the rear view mirror when he heard the noise. All he saw was "my wife with a big hairy baboon next to her". Thanks Bryan.

Leo was very sad because the baboon stole our only fruit. I have to admit I was pretty sad also. We can only buy apples and pears in Nairobi. "He stole our last 2 red apples, 2 green apples, and 2 green pears and our plastic bag" states Leo anytime he retells the story. Ziplock bags are valuable here in Kenya and reused multiple times.

Notice the baboon staking out our car. We should've known...

After recovering from this altercation, we decided to go eat lunch at the lodge. We were seated at a lovely table outside. We noticed some baboons on the other side of the fence. Anna was very worried that one would jump the fence and come after us. Bryan told her to keep a watch on the baboons.

Well, you know where this is going...Anna's eyes got as big as saucers. "Daddy, daddy - a baboon's coming!" Bryan looks up to see a baboon running towards our table. All of a sudden, Bryan starts making ridiculous noises to scare the baboon. He said he was speaking baboon. Again, thanks Bryan. The baboon ran up to our table and stole my mom's cheeseburger - all before we can say, "shoo". Our server was nice enough to bring my mom another cheeseburger, but we had all lost our appetite.

Leo- not so sure about finishing his lunch