The three basics of survival are water, food and shelter. Without these, your chances of staying alive for any period of time are seriously reduced.
1. FIND WATER
In the savannah, it might not rain for weeks or even months. This makes finding water a difficult task, but there are ways:
Search for animal tracks and follow them to see if they lead to water.
If you find a fast-moving river, you’re in luck. Beware stagnant streams and rivers as these can harbour parasites and bacteria.
If possible, boil any water you find to make it safe to drink.
If you don’t find water, dig at the lowest part of a river. Often water lies beneath the surface of a dried-up riverbed.
If you do find water, use a piece of clothing to act as a sponge and trickle the water into your mouth.
2. FIND FOOD
Food can also be difficult to source, but if you find water then you’ll likely find food nearby too. Berries and fruit might be your easiest and most abundant source of nutrition, but, before eating any, it’s crucial to check if they’re poisonous or not:
First, cut open the fruit and smell it. If it smells like peaches or almonds, it’s poisonous.
Rub the fleshy part of the fruit on your skin and wait at least a minute to see if it produces a rash or reaction. If so, it’s poisonous. Discard it.
Next, touch the fruit to your lips. If you feel a burning sensation, the fruit is not safe to eat.
Otherwise, move the fruit to your tongue but don’t swallow. If the fruit doesn’t aggravate your tongue, take a bite of the fruit and wait several hours to see if you become sick. If not, the fruit is edible.
In addition, good sources of protein are termites or larvae!
3. FIND SHELTER
To sleep safely at night:
Make a boma – a circular enclosure of acacia branches. The thorns will keep nocturnal predators away.
Climb a tree and tie yourself securely to the bough.
Find a hollowed-out baobab tree to take refuge inside.
Or climb up to a wide rock ledge and secure yourself so you don’t roll off in the night.
The key factor is to keep out of reach of any potential predators while sleeping at night.
Africa’s Deadliest Predators – And How to Survive Them
1. LIONS
Lions are the second largest big-cat species in the world, after tigers.
Adult males can eat up to forty-four kilograms of meat in one sitting! How much do you weigh?
A lion’s roar can be heard from eight kilometres away.
Equipped with teeth that tear effortlessly through bone and tendon, lions can take down an animal as large as a bull giraffe. Once grabbed, the prey is subdued and suffocated with a quick neck bite or a sustained bite over the muzzle.
How to Survive a Lion Attack: If you encounter a lion, never turn your back and try to run. That is a death warrant. Your best chance is to stand still, stretch out your arms to look as large as possible, and try to outface the lion!
2. NILE CROCODILES
A crocodile can snap its jaws shut, trapping prey within fifty milliseconds.
Crocodiles have the strongest bite of any animal in the world. The muscles that open the jaws, however, aren’t so powerful. A reasonably strong person could hold a crocodile’s jaws closed with their bare hands!
Each crocodile jaw has twenty-four teeth that are meant to grasp and crush, not chew. They swallow stones to grind food inside their stomachs.
‘Crying crocodile tears’ – displaying fake sadness – comes from the myth that the reptiles weep when eating humans. They do wipe their eyes when feeding, but only because their eyes bubble and froth when eating.
How to Survive a Crocodile Attack: Most victims never see the crocodile coming. If caught in its jaws, trying to pull free is usually futile and may induce the crocodile to go into an underwater death roll. The only hope of survival is to fight back: hit or poke the eyes, the most vulnerable part of a crocodile’s body. If that fails, strike the nostrils or ears. As a last-ditch attempt, go for the palatal valve – a flap of tissue behind the tongue that covers the crocodile’s throat and prevents the animal from drowning. If your arm is stuck in a crocodile’s mouth, you may be able to prise this valve down; water will then flow into the crocodile’s throat, and hopefully it will let you go.
3. BLACK MAMBAS
The fastest snake in the world, the black mamba is capable of moving at speeds of up to nineteen kilometres per hour for short distances.
Its venom is highly toxic. Two drops of venom can kill a person, and a mamba can have up to twenty drops in its fangs.
The black mamba gets its name because of the black colour inside its mouth (its body is usually olive brown).
It is easily identified by its length (2.4 metres, average), slenderness, speed of movement and its coffin-shaped head.
The black mamba has a reputation for being very aggressive.
How to Survive a Black Mamba Attack: Untreated bites are fatal. Put a tourniquet above the puncture wound to slow the spread of poison and seek medical attention immediately. The sooner a person is treated after the bite with antidote, the better the chances of survival.
4. HIPPOS
Extremely aggressive if threatened, the hippo is responsible for more human fatalities in Africa than any other large animal.
Hippos can easily outrun a human, reaching up to fifty kilometres per hour.
Hippos can kill crocodiles.
The most common threat display is the yawn, which is telling you to back off!
An overheated hippo looks as if it is sweating blood; glands in its skin secrete a sticky red fluid that acts as a natural sunscreen.
How to Survive a Hippo Attack: Never get between a hippo and water. It panics them and they charge. Most human deaths happen because people surprise hippos accidentally.
5. LEOPARDS
Built for hunting, leopards have sleek, powerful bodies and can run at speeds of up to fifty-seven kilometres per hour.
Leopards are also excellent swimmers and climbers, and they can jump long distances.
Mostly nocturnal, leopards hunt prey at night. A common tactic is to leap out of trees on to their victim.
Leopards protect their food from other animals by dragging it up into a tree. A male leopard can drag a carcass three times its own weight – including small giraffes – sixteen metres up a tree!
A leopard’s characteristic call is a deep, rough cough, repeated ten to fifteen times, sounding like a saw cutting wood. An aggressive charge is heralded by two or three short coughs.
How to Survive a Leopard Attack: You probably won’t!
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Bodyguard: Ambush (Book 3) Page 28