Africa

The following story showcases one of the scariest nights of my entire life. That’s all I’m going to say now, but the memories of that evening still send shivers down my spine. I thought with Halloween fast approaching now was the perfect time to share my scare.

The second of several resorts we stayed at on our Kenyan safari rested at the foothills of Mount Kenya. When we arrived at what would be our temporary home for the next couple of days, we were greeted with a delicious lunch by the courteous hotel staff in a beautiful window-lined dining hall that was sandwiched between exquisite views of the forest and the foothills and the pool and hotel cabins. We all sat there enjoying the food and one another’s company when Sammy, our tour guide, informed us he was heading back to the airport in Nairobi where he believed our luggage was now waiting. After going on six days without it, this announcement was met with thunderous applause. Sammy suggested we use our free afternoon to take a guided nature hike and a run through the resort obstacle course and assured us we would see him next around dinner.

Following lunch we took off along the bricked pathway that led to our cabins. All things considered these cabins were rather large in size, but they did house two rooms to a building, making them cabined duplexes. I had one half of a building while Nicole and Michelle the other. Several structures down from ours Kasey and Kelly shared theirs with the other two girls traveling with us from California.

Directly across from the long bricked pathway of cabins there was a fair sized creek with a single bridge extending across it. Beyond that bridge there was a seemingly never-ending forest that stretched up Mount Kenya as far as we could see from our viewpoint on the baseline. Once each of us placed the few belongings we had in our respective cabins we all met back up at the bridge where our nature guide, an adorable older gentleman who looked like he had been doing this his whole life, was happily waiting.

The two girls from California decided they would spend the afternoon poolside, so the six of us crossed the bridge over the creek and were instantly immersed in a deep forest of tall grass, trees, and a variety of soothing and screeching sounds. Despite his clearly advanced age, our guide was briskly walking up this narrow, often steep pathway, looking back every so often to ensure we were all maintaining course.

We weren’t hiking for too long before we reached the obstacle course of roped ten foot walls, makeshift bar bridges that one needed ample upper-body strength to cross, and various other attractions that we each took turns attempting as our guide smiled and laughed at our frequent inability to perform the task at hand. Once we had our fun here our guide said there was a place he wanted to show us so we followed him up the mountain till we reached a valley full of tall grass and crazy looking cactus trees. We could not wait to get on some flat land, but he warned us that reaching this savannah would not be easy and within an instant we saw how right he was.

Immediately before us was a thick brush dressed in countless thorns that was then abruptly followed by a barbed wire fence, both of which ran the course of these grasslands as far as the eye could see. Without hesitation, our guide got down on his hands and knees and crawled through the brush, once he emerged past the thicket, he stood up right just in front of the barbed wire fence and encouraged each of us through.

One by one we followed in his path, but where he remained silent as he crawled through each of us let out little gasps and yells as we found ourselves getting pricked by these monstrous thorns on the regular. He kept telling us this was the hard part and the barbed wire would be much easier to pass through and I found myself praying he was right. I could not afford to lose the outfit I had on to rips and tears as it was at this point in time one of the only two I had. Yes, hopefully Sammy was returning with our luggage, but after nearly six days of false hopes this was no guarantee.

We all successfully made it beyond the thorns and walked a short distance between them and the fence until our guide stopped at a point where there was a large hole in the barbed fencing. He held the fence apart with his bare hands while each of us took a turn crawling through. Reaching this valley was treacherous, but oh-so-very rewarding.

It was absolutely enchanting up here. It looked like a savannah out of any and every African movie. We all ran around taking pictures and just enjoying the grasslands all around us, never once considering the potential dangers that may have been just feet away at any given time. It was the first time in six days that we were actually free to roam and frolic as we pleased and we were going to enjoy every last minute of it before we had to begin our descent back to the resort. This whole afternoon had been like a dream, so we never imagined then as we laughed and danced our way around the savannah that the night ahead would be a nightmare.

Nicole, Michelle, and I bid our temporary farewells to Kasey and Kelly as the three of us walked casually to our cabin. We all stood there for a moment in front of the handful of steps leading up to the grand front porch each duplex shared just admiring the scenery around us. Each cabin structure was elevated three feet or so in the air and had a mix of brick and wood wrapping around this bottom all set behind rows of small shrubs and large bushes. As we all climbed the steps to the porch I heard something wrestling in the thick bushes just off the right side of the building, my side of the building.

“Did you hear that?” I asked the two of them, stopping dead in my tracks.

“Hear what?” They responded in unison.

“I thought I heard something move in the bushes over there,” I said maintaining my focus in that direction.

“Well, thank goodness that’s your side,” Michelle snickered as she walked inside her room.

“I’m sure it was nothing,” I said aloud trying to assure myself. “Since dinner is in less than a half hour I am not going to shower now, just wash my face and change clothes, but I’m bringing these clothes down to get them laundered.” I told Nicole as she and I stood there right between our two doors.

“I was thinking of just doing the same,” she replied. “See you in a bit.”

I had only tossed my backpack inside earlier and hadn’t given the place much of a lookover, but now that I had a little bit of time to do so I found myself quite impressed. There was a large, stone fireplace on the left wall, which divided my room from Nicole and Michelle’s. A large couch and love seat sat adjacent to one another all opposite the fireplace while the front and non-dividing wall each featured a massive window with beautiful African curtains draped on either side of them. I quickly moved to shut the curtains on the wall opposite the fireplace, I wasn’t sure I didn’t truly hear anything moments ago and didn’t want to see whatever it was anymore than I wanted whatever it was seeing me.

Beyond the living room there was a larger than normal door that led to the master bedroom. A giant four-post bed was centered in the room and wrapped all around it was plenty of mosquito netting. It was equal parts creepy and enchanting. There was a grandiose dresser with a massive mirror resting atop it against the wall opposite the bed and various other pieces of furniture all filling the room elegantly. Off to the side of the bedroom was a bathroom that despite having all modern amenities looked as old world as they could have made it straight down to the claw foot bathtub.

The five of us made our way to the dining hall in the main lodge and could see a series of dark, ominous looking clouds making their way in overhead. A storm was brewing, but at this point in time I was actually excited about it. I love thunderstorms and couldn’t wait to bless the rains down in Africa.

When we arrived in the dining hall we were seated at an eight-person rectangular table with the other two girls in our group. As the five of us sat down we noticed one prominent face missing from the table, where was our tour guide Sammy?

The hotel staff said they had not heard from him since he took off this afternoon, but not to worry, he would surely be back in due time. As we sat there enjoying our meal we soon took notice that the only people dining in this gigantic dining hall were all seated at one table, our table.

Our previous hotel was packed with tourists from all over the world, so to be the only seven people here in a dining hall built for approximately a hundred or more seemed quite odd and concerning. When Kelly, the brave one in our group, inquired with our waiter as to why there were no other guests he merely shrugged it off and said that it was just the calm before the storm. He meant it as people would be flooding in with the upcoming weekend, but I couldn’t help but notice the intensity of the lightning outside and thought maybe his answer had a bit of a double meaning behind it.

Following dinner came traditional dessert and coffee and we all sat around talking for what seemed like hours, but never in that time did Sammy arrive, thus leaving us stranded in the middle of nowhere with no luggage, no tour guide, and no other guests.

Once the clock struck ten o’clock the hotel staff ushered us out of the dining hall and encouraged us to go back to our cabins while assuring us that Sammy would return by morning once this storm had passed. As we got up from our tables the lights around us flickered momentarily sending chills down our spines for losing power was not an additional ailment any of us wanted right now.

The seven of us stood outside under the wooden canopy that signaled the main lodge entrance for a couple minutes more chatting a bit before we all took off running into the night. As we ran, the rain felt like sheets of light metal blasting across our skin. The pathway was thankfully well lit with cute little lights all along it, but their glow paled in comparison to that of the frequent lightning lighting up the night sky.

Each bolt of lightning was immediately followed by the deafening roar of thunder which was always so loud it would have my ears ringing for moments afterwards. Nicole, Michelle, and I reached our cabin and jaunted up the steps waving goodbye to the other four as they ran towards theirs. Michelle went inside, but Nicole and I stood there watching the other four running through the downpour and for the first time we made mention of how odd it was they were a half dozen cabins away when all the cabins in between us were presumably empty. We both found this most unsettling.

Nicole and I then each went in our own rooms and once inside mine, I quickly took off my storm soaked clothing and wrapped myself in a one of the oversized towels from the bathroom. I looked at the fireplace and wished I knew how to work it, but seeing as there was no wood to be found, I realized my wishing was in vain.

I sat down on the couch and grabbed my paperback copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and decided now was a perfect time to finish reading it, so I could move onto the Chamber of Secrets. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows was to be released later that summer, so I was rereading the preceding six in anticipation. As I sat there turning the pages I was interrupted by a loud pounding that immediately made me raise my head from my book. What were those girls doing next door? I wondered as I stared at our dividing wall before returning to read. A single page later the noise sounded again, this time there was no mistaking where it was coming from. This knocking wasn’t coming from the side of me; it was coming from underneath me.

At this realization, I jerked my feet up off the floor and onto the couch. Sitting there in absolute terror as I starred down at the floor half expecting whatever it was to burst up through those wooden floorboards. I knew that given the ferocity of the storm outside this noise had to be incredibly loud for it to take prominence. I remained motionless on top the couch cushions waiting patiently for the pounding to return, but after several minutes of nothing, I decided that perhaps I was in the clear and now was the perfect time to go take a shower and get myself ready for bed.

I put my book down and walked through the bedroom into the bathroom and turned on the shower waiting patiently for the water to warm up. As I stood there with my hand under the water I could hear the faint sound of muffled growls and moans. I listened intently as it continued on and on. I hadn’t heard it before running the water, so I told myself that it was just the pipes and paid it no further mind.

The water was finally a desirable temperature, so I stepped behind the curtain and began washing my hair. As I stood there running my shampooed fingers through my hair and singing some Céline I saw a spark flash through the curtain followed by the sound of a little snap and within an instant I was standing in complete darkness. The resort had lost all power and within moments my warm water started to cool causing me to quickly rinse off and get out.

I fumbled around in the dark before remembering seeing some candles and matches in a desk drawer earlier, so I went and lit a single candlestick and laid it in the sink. This was enough light to dress myself in the pajama set I had purchased from our last hotel.

I went into the bedroom and placed the candle in the holder in front of the mirror allowing the reflection to amplify the light. I pulled up a chair to the dresser and returned to my reading. As I sat there I could hear the groaning and moaning from earlier and realized it was certainly not the pipes. The noise seemed to be right in the room with me and this made the hairs on the back of my neck stand straight up. Despite scanning the room a dozen times I found myself always alone, so I chose to ignore the noises and continue reading.

Just as I was nearing the final pages a loud thump hit the floorboards directly underneath me and sent me shooting up out of my seat and on top of it instead. My heart was beating so hard and fast that I felt as though it were resting in my throat. Something was definitely beneath this cabin and I decided I would rather be over on the bed than standing on this chair, but I didn’t want to walk across the floor, so I was going to have to leap across it instead.

As I extended my left leg towards the bed and attempted to project myself off the chair with my right the chair gave out from under me sending me crashing down to the floorboards and the chair somersaulting across the room.

The entire room quaked with my crash and caused a booming that rivaled the thunder outside leaving me on the floor paralyzed with fear. My heart was pounding as though it were going to beat right out my chest. I laid there in hesitation for a moment, scared of just what was going to happen next, while fixating my eyes the entire time on the floor next to me. Moments passed and nothing happened, so I slowly began to raise my body up off the ground and saw that in the crash I had shaken the candlestick over and it was now burning on top the dresser.

I dashed across the room and grabbed the fallen candle, placing it back in the holder. Fortunately, nothing caught fire for the last thing I needed in this moment of panic was to set this cabin ablaze. I grabbed the candleholder and darted in the direction of the front door. I had to know if Nicole and Michelle were hearing all this as well.

I threw open my door and u-turned around the porch frantically banging on their door and within an instant Nicole opened it beckoning me inside.

“There’s something underneath us!” I exclaimed, my voice laced with fear.

“That’s what we were thinking too!” Nicole replied in panic. “At first we thought the noises were coming from your room, but then there was no mistaking that they were happening right under us. Just a minute ago though we heard the loudest booming ever and now we’re basically terrified.”

In the midst of this terror I was still able to crack a smile, “that booming noise was me!”   I exclaimed to their candlelit faces. “I did it because something moved just underneath my feet when I was in my bedroom reading and it made me jump up on my chair and in my attempt to get from chair to bed I crashed down on the floor.”

They responded with nervous laughter, but we all carried our conversations from where we stood to the nearby couch, each of us raising our feet up off the ground.

“What are we going to do?” Nicole asked, but before any of us could answer a booming thump jolted the floorboards beneath us.

We all fell silent, but it was too late, whatever it was knew exactly where we were. A rapid-fire series of poundings began happening right below us sending the floorboards to shake and shutter like never before causing us three to hurl past one another towards the front door.

As I was the fastest I was the first out the door and set off in the direction of the main lodge. Nicole and Michelle were hot on my tail at first, but once I got outside my stride took over and I soared along the bricked pathway. I couldn’t tell if the rainfall had intensified or if it was just because I was running, but the rain actually hurt when it hit my skin, which given the state of the storm left me in constant pain.

After a couple minutes I had finally reached the grand wooden canopy of the lodge and paused to catch my breath once under its shelter. I watched anxiously as Nicole and Michelle ran with all their might up the hill in my direction. I turned to peer inside the lodge only to notice that the double doors had been blown wide open and rainwater was flowing in along with a wide variety of shrubs and leaves.

Nicole and Michelle had walked up next to me both of them wearing the same jaw dropped expression I was. We did not know what to think about the sight that met our eyes. This hotel was so prim and proper, so to see these doors having been blown wide open and the main entryway having been thrown into a complete and total botanic chaos gave us a most unsettling feeling yet.

Cautiously, we walked into the dark lobby. Without any power the normally warm and inviting chamber seemed eerie and haunting. The moonlight and lightning provided us with enough light that we could clearly see we were alone, which didn’t make sense, this establishment was supposed to have twenty-four hour service.

“HELLO!” I hollered out unexpectedly causing both Michelle and Nicole to jump.

Nicole smacked my arm, “warn us before you go shouting next time!” She hissed as she progressed in the direction of the concierge counter. “I just can’t believe no one would be here.”

“Something is definitely not right,” I said as I walked towards the door behind the counter that connected to what I assumed was their resort office.

“You guys, I’m super nervous,” Michelle said from behind us. She hadn’t progressed nearly as far into the lobby as Nicole and I had.

“Same,” I called back, but my nerves were not enough to stop me from opening their office door. Even all the way open Nicole and I could see nothing inside. It was complete darkness before us. We called out for anyone to answer, but were met with continued silence. We were definitely all by ourselves here.

“I feel like we’re in a really bad movie. Let’s get out of here and go to Kasey and Kelly’s cabin,” Nicole said as she abruptly followed her own advice, briskly walking back in Michelle’s direction.

I quickly followed and the three of us found ourselves back outside under the wooden overhang of the lodge entrance.

“Everyone ready?” I asked the two of them and they responded with a couple solid nods and with that we all took of running back into the storm.

The rain still hurt as it impaled my face and arms, but I ran with all the might I had in me. I felt like in that moment I could very well have tried out for the Kenyan Olympic running team – and made it! I was making great pace when I heard Nicole scream from behind me. Instantly, I whirled around and saw she had fallen to the ground. I rushed back and with Michelle’s assistance we helped her back to her feet and the three of us ran in a pack the rest of the way.

We made so much noise running up their steps and porch that it only took a single knock on their door before Kasey answered ushering us all inside.

“What’s wrong? Everything okay?” She asked with great concern.

We shared with her and Kelly how something was dwelling beneath our cabin and how the lodge was deserted and their initial looks of concern began to mirror our own looks of terror.

“You guys are sleeping in here tonight,” Kelly declared. “No one is going back out there. Something fucked up is happening and we’ll definitely be safer if we all stay together till morning.”

We all agreed and with that went around ensuring the door and windows were all locked and the curtains drawn. We took the strength in numbers mentality to the fullest and decided we would all sleep in the same room. We stripped the bed of all its blankets and grabbed the additional ones out from the closet making what looked like a giant five sleeper bed across the living room floor.

The five of us all settled in to our sleeping arrangements when Nicole asked, “what about the girls from California? Should we tell them everything that’s going on?”

“They’re right next door to us, so if anything happens to them we’ll hear and vice versa. I’m definitely not getting out of this bed now,” Kelly answered and clearly we all agreed because no one else motioned to get up.

Despite fearing we never would we all must have fallen asleep at some point because when I next saw the room there were little spots of sunlight sneaking in from behind the curtains. I slowly got out from under the covers and pulled back the draperies causing sunlight to flood the room. We had all survived the night, but still, what of Sammy and the resort staff?

Soon the others awoke from their slumber and collectively we decided to make our way to the lodge before doing anything else to ensure that we were not stranded here all alone in the middle of nowhere.

As the five of us approached the main lodge we could see Sammy’s safari van, which the very sight of caused each of us to have a little more pep in our step. When we crested the top of the hill we saw a couple of the resort staff sweeping out the plant debris that had been strewn across the lobby the night before. They both greeted us with warm smiles, which we did our best to return, but I’m sure our faces looked more confused than happy.

“My friends, hello,” called a familiar voice from across the room. Sammy was leaning on the concierge counter, so we all hustled over in his direction. As we got closer we could see several bags sitting along the back wall causing everyone’s mood to become instantly better.

The five of us began bombarding Sammy with all the trauma we experienced the night before and when we had finally wrapped up our story he simply just smiled and told us what had been beneath our cabin all night long.

“A LION!?!” We screamed out in unison.

“Yes, a young male. What you would consider a teenage lion, yes,” Sammy said still smiling. “There is close to three feet of space beneath each cabin, so it is not entirely uncommon for animals to seek shelter there in weather like we had last night, but a lion is rare. This is good luck I say.”

An executively dressed woman apologized to us for the desertedness of the lodge and ensured us the crew was all working to restore power and never suspected with the low occupancy rate anyone would ever dare come up this way given the severity of the storm. We assured her it was only temporarily stressful and that all was well. By this point we were all anxious to get our luggage and go about our normal routines.

As the four girls each went forth and grabbed their luggage from against the wall my scariest moment yet occurred in that very moment.

My luggage was not there.

I lowered my head and wanted to scream, but merely just laughed. Given my luck this outcome was not a surprise. I looked over at Sammy and the secretly pleased, but pretending to be sad faces of the girls when Sammy became the first to speak.

“Looks like I’ll be heading back to Nairobi again tonight.”

“Oh, shit,” I replied as all five of our faces dropped. “Well, I sure hope it doesn’t storm again,” I quipped and turned to set off for the cabins with the others.

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR READING! I know this post was infinitely longer, but I appreciate all those who stuck it out till the end! You all are simply the best! Thank you again and have a phenomenal week ahead! See you next week!