Two Old Gnus

Before I write about our final week in Safe Passage, due to end on Friday, I want to tell you about what happened LAST Friday (and so does Bruce). We were just finishing dinner when Mia burst into the house, crying loudly. It was very unlike this cool, mature 19-year old from Freeport, Maine. We all jumped out of our seats to find out what was wrong, while she blurted out, between sobs, that she had just been robbed on the doorstep of the house - with a gun pointed at her!! She had lost her favorite backpack with her journal and a cheap camera, as well as her cell phone, given over when the guy reached into her pocket. At that point she had put up her hands and said, "No mas!" and he had zoomed off on a motorbike. However, amid the tears in the re-telling, her face lit up and she pulled several hundred quetzales from her bra, money which she had just gotten from an ATM machine to pay rent. We are now stashing money all over our bod's, mostly in our shoes, in a swarmy attempt to outwit the bad guys. And we aren't walking alone after dark!

Two Old Gnus
One of the experiences of growing up in the 1950’s was to witness the advent of television. A favorite program was the Wonderful World of Disney and especially the wildlife films from Africa. I was entranced by the shots of the migration of the gnu’s and assorted beasts as they roamed across the plains in search of food and water. The most exciting part of this drama was when the animals were stalked and eventually mauled or killed by the lions, waiting in ambush . The most vulnerable gnus were the old, the young and the disabled who could not keep up with the herd and thus made easy targets for the lions.

Living in Guatemala, those pictures replay in my mind as we are constantly aware of our personal safety and the dilemma of the old gnus becomes very real for us. Walking home in Antigua at night, these two old gnus feel especially vulnerable, not from personal experience but from seeing how the lions have picked off 4 younger female gnus from our herd who left the group and decided to walk by themselves. The lions are especially fond of younger female animals and prefer to steal their backpacks and money rather than kill them for food. Occasionally, younger male gnus get attacked for their computers, MP3 players, IPhones, or other electronic gear. This always happens at night when the gnus have spent too much time at the watering hole and are not thinking clearly or are so egocentric to think that nothing will happen to them.

Maybe there is an advantage to being an older gnu because we don’t walk alone, can’t stay awake much after 9:30, spend limited time at the watering hole, and can pay to take a taxi back to the safety of the jungle. At times, we run into especially clever lions who are more interested in mauling us for money in more sociably acceptable ways.

When these two old gnus visited the beach in Montericco, we realized, from the moment we crossed the river that we were in new territory. As we stepped ashore, the lions gathered around us and asked if we would like their help in learning about the town. The lions were smiling and friendly but lions are lions and, being wary gnus, we decided to decline their offer. When we arrived at the hotel, an especially friendly lion, who was fluent in English followed us onto the grounds and told us his life story. He then offered to take us on a hike along the beach under a full moon that evening to find hatching sea turtles and/or to take us for a boat ride in the bayou early the next morning.

The younger gnu, not wanting to piss off the lion, wanted to do it all and readily agreed to the offer. The older and wiser gnu, not wishing to be on a deserted beach late at night with a lion, nor wanting to get up early in the morning to go into the swamp with a lion, suggested that we go on a later boat ride in the daylight when there were more gnus around.

Being new to this game and a bit slow on the uptake, the older one paid a third more than the going price for the trip in cash to the lion and wondered if the lion would show up in the morning at the appointed time. Sure enough, the lion was waiting for us but announced that he wouldn’t be taking us but we would be escorted by another lion – very suspicious. The attack was brief and consisted only of losing a small portion of money but no lasting damage was done.

We are learning that when you migrate across unfamiliar territory, it pays to be wary of lions, even if they are smiling, to be alert to your surroundings, and to stick with the herd. Also, older gnus are slower but wiser, and sometimes the lions win.

Next week, these gnus will be heading back to more familiar terrain and are looking forward to a familiar language, lettuce, safe food, and good beer. Hopefully, the lions will be fewer and less hungry.