Flat Tire Amongst Hyenas

We heard animal noises but couldn't see anything in the pitch-black early hours. Suddenly, our flashlights reflected yellow eyes all around, encircling us.

In July 2011, I made my childhood dream of seeing Africa and its wildlife come true. Arusha is the town people fly into for Tanzanian safaris. After an exquisite stay at the Arusha Coffee Lodge, departed for the first national park. That morning, our jeep blew a tire on the paved main road some miles from the city. The other two jeeps in our group zoomed past us, offering no help. While our driver, Shuma, pulled the tire jack out, we all hooted and hollered at the other drivers.

"Thanks, you don't have to stop and help us!" Everyone laughed, yelled, and waved. Right out of the gate, we had dropped into our first adventure.

The men in our jeep helped Shuma change the flat, and he then put the pedal to the metal to catch up. It seemed the drivers prided themselves on who arrived first. Shuma was known as an excellent driver and the fastest.

Our safari through various Tanzanian parks would end at the Serengeti, a renowned enormous park. Here, I would go on my first-ever hot-air balloon ride, taking me over the vast plains of the Serengeti.

A scary roller coaster ride in high school made me give up all carnival rides (even Disney ones). I don't trust the machinery, so you won't see me on any, even a Ferris wheel! Despite this, I wasn't nervous about the hot air balloon ride; excitement filled me for this chance to fly over the Serengeti plains in one.

Eighteen tour members arose before dawn, met in the lobby for coffee, and hopped into one of three vehicles. I ended up sitting in the front bucket seat next to our balloon company driver, and our jeep was the last to depart.

There were no lights anywhere on the way to the launch site. Though we could see the other two vehicles for a while, we quickly lost sight of them. It was eerie to drive in a pitch-black wilderness with large carnivores on the hunt before dawn. Expecting it would take about an hour to reach the balloons, our driver said we would launch just before sunrise. Suddenly, there was a rumbling, not from animals but from a tire. Another flat!

The other two vehicles were far ahead of us. Edwin tried to contact someone on his radio, but no one replied. After several tries, we realized we were all alone in the blackness. Our safari tour guide had been a park ranger, trained in weapons and wildlife habits. I wished that he was riding along with us now.

The men in our jeep told Edwin they would help him change the tire. "No!" he yelled out. "No one gets out of the vehicle but me. I will change the tire. Just stay in your seats. It will all be okay." Jumping down, he started jacking up the vehicle while looking around. Grabbing our flashlights, we aimed them so he could see better and quickly noticed a pack of hyenas beginning to close in. One woman shouted at them like they were dogs, "Get away!" which didn't faze them. Edwin worked as quickly as possible while we pointed the flashlights at the hyenas, hoping the bright lights, like fire, would keep them at bay. Once finished, he quickly got us back on our way to the launch site.

"Weren't you worried about the hyenas?" I asked him. He smiled at me and replied, "No, I was watching for the lions. Where there are hyenas, there are lions. The hyenas follow them."

Excitement mounted as we arrived, and we could see the enormous balloons. Each lay deflated on its sides and had a basket with twelve compartments we would need to slide into feet first. As we got in, the balloons began to inflate until all were situated and the basket was fully upright. Our balloon pilot, David, reminded me of the actor who played the Wizard of Oz in the Judy Garland movie.

Launching at dawn, we snapped photos of the sun erupting from the horizon and other balloons in the distance. It was a magical mystery tour!

David was excellent at pointing out sights below us with his expert eye. Below us were vast herds of gazelle and zebra, and we spotted lions now resting from their nightly hunt near a river. Giraffes sauntered and loped across the plains while herds of elephants ran under the trees by the river. He shared that the elephants were disturbed by the noise from the flame lighting was disturbing them. Despite the glorious sights and experience, I felt a little guilty for disturbing the elephants' quiet morning.

The sights and experience were glorious, but I felt terrible for disturbing a quiet morning for the elephants. I wonder if the noise brings back memories of being hunted by balloons.

As we prepared to land, I turned back toward the pilot and watched him search for a landing spot on the other side of the river. Focusing on the river banks below, I was sure we would crash in and get eaten by the Nile crocodiles! I held my breath, my stress increasing as the balloon continued to head toward the river. I breathed out as our flying machine passed low over the river. "He knows what he's doing," a voice in my head whispered. Be calm. Just breathe." I watched the pilot, keenly focused on the landscape now that we had crossed the river.

"Hold on, everyone! We are going to hit a termite mound." I asked if he was kidding. "I would never kid about that. Hold on." For those of you who don't know, termite mounds can be the height of a man and are hard like concrete. 

Bang, bump, bang, we skittered across the mound and another, bumping hard. Although the landing was rough, we arrived safely and climbed out. With grins, the entire tour group posed for photos with champagne toasts, then made our way to the tables set for our magical catered breakfast on the Serengeti.

Copyright © 5/21/2024 by Andrea O. Corwin

Thanks for reading! If you liked this story, please give it a heart ♡ and drop a comment. You may want to try some of my fiction or poetry here on Vocal; subscribe to me for free to receive new content. Vocal allows stories to be shared; readers can tip and pledge to Creators.