A Safari, a Stuck Car, and a Long Walk

During my years as a student in Linköping, I flew to Tanzania during the Christmas holidays in 1978 to visit my parents, who were working there at the time. My brother and I were allowed to borrow our parents’ car (without four-wheel drive) to go on a safari in Tarangire National Park, a wildlife reserve in northern Tanzania that we had never visited before.

Having lived in Tanzania for many years and having been on several safaris in different national parks, we felt quite experienced and knew how to behave around wild animals. We felt free and excited to explore the wilderness of this fascinating country on our own in our “own” car.

We spent the first day driving along the park’s gravel roads, watching herds of impalas, zebras, and wildebeest. Tarangire is also home to many elephants, whose social behavior has always fascinated me. I had recently read a book by a British elephant researcher, so I knew it was important not to get too close to mothers with calves and that they could become dangerous if they started flapping their large ears. We always kept a respectful distance.

Toward dusk, when it was time to head back to the lodge, I decided to turn the car around at a bend where the road was slightly wider. On the outside of the curve, the ground sloped downward, and I accidentally steered the front wheels off the road. When I shifted into reverse to complete the turn, we found ourselves stuck. The wheels simply spun in the loose gravel, and there was no way to back the car onto the road again.

In central Africa, sunset is brief. It was already beginning to get dark. I quickly thought through our options.

We could stay in the car and hope that someone would pass by. But at that time of day, that seemed rather unlikely. Most likely, we would have to spend the night in the car until the following morning, without food and with only two small bottles of water.

The other option was to leave the car and walk back to the lodge along the road. It was about an hour’s brisk walk, with wild animals all around us. The thought crossed my mind that the big cats usually become more active after sunset.

My brother and I looked at each other and came to the same conclusion. We had to reach the lodge before darkness fell so that we could get help.

We set off at a fast pace along the road. Several herds of elephants stood only about a hundred meters away. They watched us curiously, while we walked with our hearts in our mouths. Fortunately, everything remained calm, and we reached the lodge safely.

A park ranger greeted us with his mouth wide open in disbelief. He asked where we had come from and was clearly not pleased that we had walked through the park on our own. At the same time, he was very kind. We climbed into his Land Rover and drove back to where our car was stranded. With the Land Rover’s help, it was easy to tow our car back onto the road.

Relieved and happy, we returned to the lodge. A couple of days later, we had yet another exciting safari story to tell our parents.