I don’t know how I happened into it, but while looking for information about Kili, I came across a reference to man-eating baboons, and of course, I had to look into it a bit further. I kind of wish I hadn’t, and if you aren’t into horror films, maybe you shouldn’t read any further!
It seems that in the early eighties, Kenya was in the midst of a terrible drought. The people and wildlife began to run low on food and water. This caused something unusual to happen. The baboons of the area, who regularly left the human population alone, began to turn on them. A few attacked humans and ate their flesh to feed themselves. Most scientific and ecological experts would have said the baboons would first have started killing and feeding on each other. In this case, however, several different species of baboon, at odds with each other during the normal run of things, organised. They hunted together, stalking their prey and invaded villages. That’s where the truth of the story ends, and here’s where the fiction begins!
“In the Shadow of Kilimanjaro” (1986)
Based on the above events, this film tells the story of an incident in Kenya in 1984, when, because of a severe drought, 90,000 wild starving baboons went on a murderous rampage, killing and eating humans and animals alike in order to survive. Some people find themselves being hunted by the starving monkeys and must do whatever they can to stay alive.
I am happy to report that despite extensive research (well, a quick look round Google!), I can find nothing like this in the Kilimanjaro area in more recent years, although there are some accounts of attacks by baboons in South Africa. Having discovered this horrible gory film – all reviews say it is pretty terrible – I then looked further back in time and stumbled across:
“Killers of Kilimanjaro” (1959)
In this film an engineer plans to forge through the wilds of Africa to lay tracks for his railroad company but must first contend with hostile tribes, man eating lions, stampeding elephants and angry crocodiles. Apparently the film was based on the Tsavo Man-Eaters. They were a pair of notorious lions responsible for the deaths of a number of construction workers on the Kenya-Uganda Railway between March and December 1898. Well that is long enough ago, so I doubt if lions pose much risk now!
Of course, the one film (and book – I read it recently standing in a charity shop!!!) most of us will have heard about is “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” (1952) with the gorgeous, moody looking Gregory Peck. I couldn’t remember details of any scary animals in it, but the film begins with the opening words of Hemingway’s story: “Kilimanjaro is a snow-covered mountain 19,710 feet high, and is said to be the highest mountain in Africa. Its western summit is called the Masai ‘Ngje Ngi,’ the House of God. Close to the western summit there is the dried and frozen carcass of a leopard. No one has explained what the leopard was seeking at that altitude”. The story centres on the memories of the disillusioned Peck from what he thinks is his deathbed from a severely infected wound, caused by a thorn. (Yes – don’t worry anyone – I have had prescribed a course of antibiotics to take with us, for use in just such an event). He remembers past years and realises how little he has accomplished during his life, and that he’s never made a written record of the events
He lives to see morning come. He watches vultures gather in a tree as he lies in the evening. He recapitulates his life and talks to his current girl-friend Helen (Susan Hayward). He tells her about his past experiences; then argues, then comes to a realisation about his attitude, and finally reaches a sort of peace, and even love, with her.
So there we have it! Man-eating baboons and lions, then leopards and finally vultures hanging in there, waiting for the end. However, one thing is for sure: after writing my share of the Kili blog during the last five months, I will not be lying on my deathbed like the swarthy Gregory regretting not having put pen to paper – or at least finger to keyboard! It has all been written down in unnecessary and undignified detail for all and everyone who comes after to see.