Back in the 90s the capital of Zimbabwe, with its wonderful subtropical highland climate and endless avenues of beautiful Jacaranda trees, was one of the most liveable cities on the entire continent. Those days were gone when I went to Harare in October 2017 in the framework of a business trip. The Jacarandas were still painting the entire city in purple, but elsewhere decay and poverty were striking. Dollar was king and only possessors of Greenbucks could survive easily.

Glad to hold some Greenbucks I used my free weekend to visit Mana Pools National Park which shares a common habitat with Lower Zambezi National Park in Zambia. Right in front of my tent the Zambezi river flew. Elephants fed on grass in the distance, Gon tonics were cold and I couldn’t imagine a better place to be. Which brought me to the bold idea of ​​doing a canoe trip. No sooner said than done and my guide and I were dropped a couple of kilometers upstream with the plan to float down to camp before sunset. Only after embarking I realized that the entire river was full of huge crocodiles and hippos. Our tiny canoe was shaken by fierce winds which had suddenly came up and created enormous waves on this huge river. I didn’t feel comfortable, to say the least. So I was quite happy after we finally turned into a smaller tribute flowing gently through rolling meadows. “Favorite preying ground for lions in the afternoon” I heard my guide saying. Further downstream we passed hippos grazing in the sun and approached an elephant apparently wading through the water in front of us. Of course he would have gone once we reached his position. He did not – but rather flapped his ears, shook his head and trumpetted like a steam train.

Only now we learned that he had injured his left knee and couldn’t move. No way around for us. Of course he would have gone once we reached his position. He did not – but rather flapped his ears, shook his head and trumpetted like a steam train. Only now we learned that he had injured his left knee and couldn’t move. No way around for us. Of course he would have gone once we reached his position. He did not – but rather flapped his ears, shook his head and trumpetted like a steam train. Only now we learned that he had injured his left knee and couldn’t move. No way around for us.

As the African sun was slowly setting we had no other option but to cancel our canoe trip, still being far from camp.  At respectful distance from the incapacitated elephant we took our canoe ashore and waited for a car for being whisked away to camp.  I just had opened a cold Zambezi and thought about (my!) upcoming dinner when I was looking into four curious eyes a mere 100 meters up the hill: Lions! Crocodiles, hippos, elephants and lions – I learned my lesson. In Africa nature is king and if the customer orders it he will get it – no matter how dangerous it might be. Leave your European way of risk assessment at home when you decide on your spare time activities in Africa!