Day 31 - Kevin's side of the story

Teresa held my small revolver with both hands and was pointing it directly at me. There was no doubt on my mind that she was serious about murdering me in cold blood. The woman had just lost it. This was not the Teresa I knew intimately.

The two Masai wariors holding me firmly in their grip, were the first to react, they scrambled for safety not wanting to be accidentally in the way of the deadly bullet intended for me.

Since I had come into the room a few moments earlier, I had not moved from my position, which was very close to the door. That is probably what saved my life. I dived for the door, which was still slightly ajar since the Masai warriors had come into the room.

The loud bang of my revolver going off filled the room once more just as I stepped out and started my mad dash into the bush. I knew I was running for my life and although I was in poor shape, I didn't notice as I hurtled through the bush as fast as my legs could carry me.

I have no idea how long I had been running by the time I stopped briefly to catch my breath. My whole body was drenched in sweat. I hid behind a large tree and listened, my heart beating fast.

Had the Masai warriors followed me? Were they this minute tracking me down through this bush they must know like the back of their hands? I listened carefully for any sound. There was none to alarm me. Just the usual chirping of birds. It seemed that they had decided not to pursue me. But why? It didn’t make sense.

I did not want to believe something that did not make sense, at least not to me. They would be here soon enough and they would kill me. Teresa wanted me dead.

I tried to think. What would I do to get out of this fix now? Without a gun and in the bush, my situation was now difficult. Could I make a deal with the Masai, like junkie had obviously done? But then I did not have any cash on me. There was no way those savages would take traveler’s check. They were even unlikely to accept dollars even if I had them on me. My guess was that they would prefer the local currency. Where would I get that here in the bush and in the middle of nowhere?

What if I found a way of somehow reaching my room at the lodge in the Mara? That would dramatically improve my current situation. But how would I do that, it was at least an hours drive in my Land Cruiser. Then there was the threat of the Masai. I was convinced that they would pursue me.

Once again I ran like crazy through the bush. I had to put as great a distance as possible between the Masai. There was no trusting those savages, they could easily spear me to death the moment they set their eyes on me.

This had to be my lucky day because I somehow saw the danger moments before I was on it. I stopped dead on my tracks, horrified. The snake was larger than any snake I had ever seen in my life. It was lying on the path directly in front of me. Had I taken a couple more steps, I would have trodden on it. I’m not an expert on snakes, but this one was definitely of the poisonous type. That much I could tell. In fact I was convinced that she was of the more poisonous type.

The snake must have already anticipated my arrival in its’ path, by whatever way snakes sense people, long before they are in view. I knew this because she was poised to strike. Her head was drawn back ready to pounce with lightning speed and sink her highly poisonous fangs into me.

I was frozen on the spot, not daring to move and at the same time being very aware of the danger right in front of me. I had read somewhere that snakes usually waited for people to move in these situations for them to pounce and strike. So I dared not to move an inch. And yet everything in my being was crying out to me to get the hell out of the place as quickly as possible.