The hyena experience gets a blog of it's own. This was such a crazy fun time! And also, so scary and borderline reckless.
We drove up through this alley-type road. There were people all out and about, even though it was pitch black out. It was like a big giant block party that stretched a mile long. You could barely fit two cars down this road at the same time. We saw kids doing gymnastics in the streets, and women cooking on the side of the road. It was really cool. We got to hand out some snacks to some kids that came up to our van to inspect us. This is when I almost got my arm pulled off! But it was fun.
We finally, after being lost and asking for directions 4 times, found the field where the hyena guy was. He is this young man who goes out and feeds the hyenas every night. He has a couple baskets of raw meat, and calls them all in. They must expect him b/c they keep coming back every night. We pulled up and only had the lights from the van, which was thankfully left running...in case we needed a quick escape route.:)
We got out and watched him feed the mangy mutts for a bit before we were daring enough to take part. Andrew went first. I was still unsure I would even have the nerve to do it! The hyenas are so big, and WILD! These are not domestic animals, no matter what our driver jokingly told us. They are wild animals...and they're hungry!
But it was so fun! I love adrenaline rushes. We got to feed them one at a time on our knees beside the man who "knows what he is doing." He even made us put a stick in our mouth with meat on the end to feed them! SO SCARY! There were only about 5 hyenas, that we could see. You could hear more of them outside the area where the light was shining. I don't think I let me guard down until we were in the van and well on our way back to the hotel. I got some great pics and it was something we will always remember doing.
We drove up through this alley-type road. There were people all out and about, even though it was pitch black out. It was like a big giant block party that stretched a mile long. You could barely fit two cars down this road at the same time. We saw kids doing gymnastics in the streets, and women cooking on the side of the road. It was really cool. We got to hand out some snacks to some kids that came up to our van to inspect us. This is when I almost got my arm pulled off! But it was fun.
We finally, after being lost and asking for directions 4 times, found the field where the hyena guy was. He is this young man who goes out and feeds the hyenas every night. He has a couple baskets of raw meat, and calls them all in. They must expect him b/c they keep coming back every night. We pulled up and only had the lights from the van, which was thankfully left running...in case we needed a quick escape route.:)
We got out and watched him feed the mangy mutts for a bit before we were daring enough to take part. Andrew went first. I was still unsure I would even have the nerve to do it! The hyenas are so big, and WILD! These are not domestic animals, no matter what our driver jokingly told us. They are wild animals...and they're hungry!
But it was so fun! I love adrenaline rushes. We got to feed them one at a time on our knees beside the man who "knows what he is doing." He even made us put a stick in our mouth with meat on the end to feed them! SO SCARY! There were only about 5 hyenas, that we could see. You could hear more of them outside the area where the light was shining. I don't think I let me guard down until we were in the van and well on our way back to the hotel. I got some great pics and it was something we will always remember doing.