A harmless and beautifully decorated bowl of fruit I’d set center table was the cause of a crime of passion.

Starting out on our new journey the kids and I having always lived close to nature, we hunted down houses to rent away from the cities. We eventually found our little paradise tucked away under the trees. With the backdrop of the mountain and views of the sea. The house was old and fully furnished and perfect. The rent was affordable and the traveling to and from schools not unachievable, but it came with its own challenges.

Challenges we were totally unaware of at the time.

We’d settledin and enjoyed walks to the beach in the evening or climbs up the mountain onweekends.

On that particular day I’d said good buy to the kids and took my time cleaning the kitchen so by 10 am I was still in my pyjamas. The phone rang at the other end of the house. It was a friend wanting a chat. I had just put the phone down and was making my way back up the passage when I heard a blood curdling scream. Nearly jumping out of my skin, I froze as the blood curling screams continued. “The screams are coming from the direction of my lounge, it’s in my house”. I kept thinking. Terrifying, murderous, high pitched primal scream, like someone was being murdered.Clutching my gown, I slowly made my way up the passage towards the screams, there was no other exit.  Thinking all the time “how can someone be in my HOUSE” the screams were awful and getting louder.

The firstthing that came into view was my glass sliding doors leading onto the balcony.On the other side of the glass was a troop of baboons. The alpha male had seen thesmall gap I’d left between the two doors and was trying to pull the doors open.“No, you don’t” I screamed at him. Diving towards the doors I saw somethingorange dart past me towards the dining room table on the other side of theroom.   

Then I saw the trapped baby, his mouth wide open in a terrified grin showing all it young teeth he continued screeching and screaming.  Trapped and hysterical in my lounge, he had oranges stuffed under arms, legs and in each hand and every crevice possible. Jumping up and down and screaming, and darting back and forth. I knew I had to find a way of getting him out without inviting the troop in.  

Grabbing hold of the handle of the glass door, Alpha male and I played tug of war, while his troop danced around the balcony with excitement. The baby still screeching and screaming came forward each time he thought the gap was big enough to slip through. While I held onto the door and pushed my body as far away from the gap as I could. Trying to encourage the little thief to make his safe escape. With a little skill Alpha and I managed to widen the gap just enough to allow the rascal to slip through.

Exhausted,shocked and still shaking, I watched the troop fight over the spoils as they madetheir way down my driveway and up the road.

Revisitingthe crime scene, I noticed that I’d left a window open and the baby had eitherbeen pushed or encouraged to squeezed itself through the small burglar bars.The site of the fruit bowl was just too tempting.

I’m not sure that, that tidy little old-fashioned house had seen so much action in years. My fruit bowl days were over. As cute as they could be, lounging on my balcony furniture, or teasing the dogs through the glass doors, danger was just a few sharp fangs away.

One afternoon a little dog we had rescued, decided to show her new owners how brave she was. A troop had visited our front garden to play in some trees. This was her chance, she chased after them and no amount of shouting could bring her back. The large Alpha turned around and grabbed her by one of her back legs and swung her around like a whoola hoop, then let go. From then on wards she barked at a respectable distance.  

Our mountains are full of baboons who have discovered a taste for human food through no fault of their own. In a village where human and baboons live together there is seldom harmony. A window left open could mean your food cupboards torn apart, or your fridge raided. And yet we have to find a way to live together side by side.

 The joys of living close to nature.