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Tanzanian Kidnappers

The Time I Almost was Kidnapped.

By Jake AdamsPublished 4 years ago 3 min read
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Tanzania, a beautiful country. Full of rich culture, exciting events, and dangerous animals, but not even the Lions are as dangerous as the animals I encountered.

I arrived in Tanzania, the Arusha area to be specific in July of 2017 if I remember correctly. It was a three week trip full of memorable moments. To get to the better part I'll summarize these events, maybe to tell them in a different time. I hiked the foot hills of Mt. Kilimanjaro, taught English to the students, and went on a three day safari. It wasn't until the 13th day when something bad happened.

I awoke early, much like every other morning to the sound of the Muslim prayer from the nearby Mosque, it was 5:30am but that wasn't too bad for me. Most of the time my days start earlier then that. Anyway I got up and dressed to watch the morning sunrise, it wouldn't happen for another hour or so but I enjoy some quiet time to myself. The sunrise over Tanzania is unlike any other in the world, the sky above the compound was painted in brush strokes of pinks and oranges, as the wispy clouds floated gently by on the early morning breeze. The concrete is cold against my bare feet, despite the risk of parasites I still preferred to walk around bare foot, it's more comfortable.

Anyways we go through the usual routine, and since the group I was with was a particularly rowdy bunch breakfast usually came with a lecture on our attitudes. We were the group of volunteers who didn't really want to volunteer, and just wanted to relax. Eventually they get to telling us that we will get to go to the market that night to get ingredients for our dinner. We have a set amount of money to spend so the better we haggle, the better our dinner will be.

So fast forward to that night, me and a group of two girls are walking back from the market. On our right is the jungle, with banana trees growing wildly, and to our left is the market made up of rusting sheet metal and termite damaged wood. We wound are way down the dirt road, dodging the carefree motorcycle riders and did our best to not choke on the dusty air mixed with the smell of rotting cow.

Suddenly a van whips up to our side, at least seven men must have been sitting inside this Toyota van. The door swings open and they gesture for us to get in. The first guy looks absolutely panicked with his wide blood shot eyes, and shaking hands. I don't understand what he says but his feet slowly inch closer to the edge of the van. Naturally I step back and the girls follow suit and not a moment too soon. The nervous man lunges out of the van, but we read him perfectly, dodging his initial attempt, allowing us a chance to run.

We run as fast as we can, the compound is now in sight, the van is closely behind and the man is still running on foot. I can feel them getting closer and closer, and just when I think its too late the compound door slides open and our armed guard emerges on the other side. We dive through the opening, sliding across the gravel drive, and the door shuts before the people can grab us.

And that is the story of how I was almost kidnapped.

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