DON’T FEED THE BABOONS
You can’t go all the way to Cape Town without heading south to the Cape of Good Hope, the most southwestern point of the African continent, at least according to the sign. There are lots of signs as you make your way there, but most of them are about NOT feeding the baboons:
DO NOT FEED THE BABOONS!
BABOONS ARE DANGEROUS AND ATTRACTED BY FOOD!
DO NOT OPEN FOOD NEAR BABOONS!
DID YOU READ THE SIGNS? DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT FEEDING THE BABOONS, YOU IDIOT!
Clearly baboons have caused some problems. I did some digging and some unfortunate tourists have had their arms nearly bitten off not to mention other extremities, just trying to share their snacks. One brazen baboon actually jumped into the passenger seat of a car and stole a woman’s purse complete with her passport and wallet. Maybe she had an open KitKat bar that lured him.
As we got closer and closer to our destination, we did see quite a few baboons just hanging out next to the road. Three of them were perched up on a rock looking fairly harmless to me. Nevertheless, we closed our windows, sealed up our potato chip bag and tried not to make eye contact. After all, with potato chips, we all know you can’t eat just one. I have a feeling the baboons know that too.