Ghosts in the Darkness

September 19, 2024: At 3:54 a.m., we were visited by silent ghosts in the darkness: two lionesses gazing raptly into our safari tent.

“You know you are truly alive when you’re living among lions.“

Karen Blixen, “Out of Africa”

But before we get to that, first I want to tell you a bit about safari “glamping” among the wildlife.

The Nyumbas

Our safari nyumbas (camps) were posh. “Nyumba” means “home” in Swahili, and the camps had every creature comfort: a charging station for phones and cameras, laundry services, great dining, and a cash bar and lounge to wind down the day.  Each tent was equipped with a queen-sized bed, nightstand, clothes rack, western toilet, and even a hot bucket-fed shower on demand.  The staff even placed hot water bottles at the foot of the bed on cold nights! 

While the nyumbas are quite civilized, they are in the wild. Each evening, an armed guard escorted us to our tent and reminded us not to emerge until dawn.  “Staff has provided a cowbell on the bedside stand should any emergency arise inside your tent,” he said. 

“Ok” we laughed.

Zebras in Camp

On our third safari night, we had our first taste of camping among the wildlife.  Jean awoke to sounds outside the tent: a soft rustle of grass followed by a muffled munching.  Two zebra meandered by the tent, grazing without a care in the world.  You may recall from a prior post, there are few predators in Enashiva.   Jean clicked a few night-mode photos on her phone (enhanced below). 

Ghosts in the Darkness

Our sixth safari night found us in Central Serengeti, famed for its lions.  At 3:47 a.m. I woke for the loo, as men of a certain age are wont to do.  Jean is a notoriously light sleeper, and quiet as I was, my rustling woke her.  Five minutes later I was fast asleep.  She sat quietly reviewing safari pictures on her phone, hoping to drift back to sleep.

After just a few minutes, a soft rustle of grass emanated from the rear of the tent, followed by silence.  In hopes of photographing another zebra, Jean dimmed her phone and quietly waited.  Then another rustle, now beside the tent, again followed by silence.  But no munching of grass. She thought “This is not a herbivore.”

In the darkness, a shadow emerged in front of our tent. As Jean’s eyes followed, the shadow coalesced into a lioness – not twenty feet from our tent.  She slowly tilted her phone and captured a single fuzzy photo as the lion gazed back.

Not Alone

Then a chilling thought occurred: Lionesses do not hunt alone.  Where there is one, there are almost always more.  Just then, the grass rustled again.  Jean pulled her eyes away from the lioness at the front of the tent to the screen at the foot of our bed. A second lioness slunk forward and then stopped.  She turned her head, raised it as curious cats do, and peered in. Her nose hovered inches from the insubstantial screen.

Jean froze. No time to reach for the cowbell.  Fearing even to blink, her heart slowed to a thump, thuuump, thuuuuump.  She held her breath and thought “Please don’t hear my heart beating.” After an eternal moment, the lioness dropped her head and padded out to join her sister.  Together they vanished into the tall grass.  Ghosts in the darkness, on the hunt.

Waiting for Dawn

Not five minutes later I woke again to find Jean awake and tense.  I drowsily asked why she couldn’t sleep.  She whispered why, and my sleep was banished too.  We kept a vigil, sitting upright in the center of the bed, as far from the tent walls as possible.  I gripped my souvenir Masai club, and Jean the cowbell.  Not much later, we heard violence in the distance but had no more visitors.

When at long last the sun rose and the camp came to life, we ventured forth and found giant pawprints just outside our tent.  Our guide asked us if we had heard the the lions making a kill just before dawn. A successful hunt for the pride.

The thought that we could have been their breakfast will give us a chill to the end of our days.

It all makes for a great story, but should we venture on safari again, we will stay in a lodge!

Post-Script: That feature photo of lionesses was taken a few days after this encounter. Jean was not about to reach for the big camera with the ghosts peering in the tent!

Second Post Script: I keep recalling the movie “Ghost in the Darkness,” hence the name of this post. The movie is based on the true story of two rogue lions as documented in the book “The Man-Eaters of Tsavo.”  We will not be watching the movie nor reading the book again anytime soon.