Baboon Attack

I have never been afraid of animals. In fact, I love animals and have always had a very special interest for monkeys.
When arriving in South Africa, I was told to beware of the baboons, who are huge and have been known to attack and kill humans. I didn't think much of the warning, thinking that they only attacked when scared, threatened, or hungry:)
I never thought I would actually run across a baboon while here. But, while on my Cape to Addo tour this past week, I visited Tsitsikamma National Park and had a very close encounter with one of the monkeys!


The picture above shows the bridge that we had to cross to climb to the top of Tsitsikamma. You can see the baboon just chilling out on the bridge. We all thought that the baboon would wander off by the time we got to the bridge, but it seemed he was waiting for us to come across.
As we walk across the bridge, the baboon walks away from us and waits on the other side of the bride for us to come across. As we approach the end of the bridge, the baboon still sits, not afraid at all.
At this point, I was more than ready to turn around and let the baboon have his bridge. I didn't want to be in the statistics of the # of people killed by baboon attacks in SA. But, the others in the group chose to go on, and I didn't have much of a choice unless I wanted to be stuck in the forest alone.

I can say that I have never been so scared in my life. This baboon is standing about two feet away as we walk past and completely invade his space. As we walk past, the baboon opens his mouth and growls at us, showing his HUGE teeth. It sounds like something from a movie, and it still doesn't seem real.

I forgot to add that I was carrying a bright orange bag over my shoulders.

I walk almost past the monkey and that's when he decides that he really really wants my bag. He comes running over to me, opens his mouth to intimidate me, and snatches at my bag. I have never been quite as scared of an animal as I was of this baboon. As it snatches at my bag, all kinda of thoughts are running through my head: should I give it the bag (which has my passport, money, and credit cards in it. I don't see what the baboon would really want with the bag), should I run, should I stand still, should I make lion noises(just a quick thought:). Thankfully, as I am thinking (and simultaneously standing still) the baboon decides he is tired of snatching bags for the day. He leaves and roams about 10 feet away to his rock cave (we really were invading his space).

I don't think I will ever cross paths with a baboon again. If I do see one, I will definitely give it it's space and let it be. Apparently the baboons at Tsitsikamma are bag snatchers. They have their own personal staff to look after them and make sure they aren't a) snatching bags, or b) breaking into the guests cabins stealing food.

Smart, Dangeorus Monkeys! I still don't know what he might have wanted with my bag! Except maybe to go trade it in for some bananas.