Re: [Leica] Re: Kenya

["Dan Post" <dpost@triad.rr.com>]

Bill-
Your story reminds me of a book by Peter Capstick, called, "Death in the
Tall Grass" where he refers to an African elephant's reaction to human
interlopers as the "Stick and Stomp" method- the elephant will stomp you
until you're mixed with a considerable amount of good African soil, stir the
mass with a stick or his / her tusk, and if there's any sign of life left,
they stomp a little more.
African elephants have been preyed upon by man so long, that they quickly
get into a defensive posture at the smell or sight of a human.
I suppose the old adage- "When in Rome, do as the Romans...." still makes a
lot of sense!

Dan ( What's the greasy white stuff between an elephant's toes? SLOW LEICA
USING-A-VISOFLEX-PHOTOGRAPHERS!) Post
- ----- Original Message -----
From: "Bill Lawlor" <wvl@marinternet.com>
To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
Sent: Thursday, October 05, 2000 8:45 AM
Subject: [Leica] Re: Kenya


> Tina, my daughter just returned from 2 months in Kenya and Uganda. While
in
> Kenya she signed up for a short wildlife safari. One day the Safari camped
> at a watering place together with a few other safari outfits. In the
> morning, a tourist, against the instructions of the safari leader,"went
for
> a walk". When he did not return a search was begun which discovered him
200
> feet from the tent trampled to death by an elephant. It appeared he had
> encountered the elephant, started to take photos, and then ran from the
> charge. You can't run away from an angry african elephant. The tourist was
a
> British Army officer on vacation with his family. The incident ocurred in
> daylight in a regular campground with concrete tent pads, tables, many
> people around, etc. Local experts said a man taking photos appears to the
> elephant to be a challenging and agressive person. The elephant not only
> trampled him into the ground, but, ripped up small trees and stabbed the
> corpse with branches. African elephants are not safe like Indian
elephants.
>
> Another incident she reported happened in the coastal town of Lamu near
> Mombassa. An american yachtsman offered to assist local villagers with an
> electric wiring problem. He was working on the wires when the power
suddenly
> came on. It was fatal.
>
> It can be argued that both these men were careless. However, the point is
> that they weren't in Kansas anymore...  I know you are an experienced
> globetrotter, not a naive tourist. If it was me in Africa I would pay very
> close attention to warnings given by locals and have my common sense
turned
> up to full power.
>
> She was never robbed or threatened, but, stayed out of known danger zones
in
> Nairobi and Kampala. In Uganda there appears to be little law enforcement
> outside the cities and local people will apply swift vigilante justice to
> criminals. She worked with HIV/AIDS infected orphans in Uganda. The
disease
> is pandemic in Africa. Be sure to bring your own syringe and needle kit in
> case you need a shot.
>
> What a great opportunity you have!
>
> Bon Voyage,
>
> Bill Lawlor
>
>
>
>
>