All these stories of unruly primates: Here's mine. Late October 1990 after the Kuwaiti royal family was chased from Kuwaiti City by Saddam's army, they were living in a town in western Saudi Arabia called Taif.
A bunch of us reporters drove up from the Red Sea port of Jeddah to take part in a press conference where they thanked America, blah blah. I was surprised to find the road wound up into some fairly stark mountains, unlike what I expected of Saudi.
We came to an area where you could pull off, and I saw a bunch of small baboons capering around! I had no idea there were baboons in Saudi. Way over on the other side of the pull off were a line of big white Mercedes, but no one was out of their cars checking out the baboons, and more importantly, what looked like a spectacular view over a precipice.
So, I get out of the car, trot over to where you can see across this stark cliff face. The little baboons start wailing and acting crazy, then they disappear over the edge of the bluff. As I get to the edge, I look down --- and spot these massive broad shouldered male baboons on a little ledge, snarling and baring their teeth.
I start jogging back to the car, but the baboons boil up over the cliff in a dead run coming after me. I managed to sprint full speed, and get back to the car -- my buddy who'd stayed in the car said the biggest male was right on my heels. The baboons screamed and yelled and bounced around, and after making their point went back over the ledge.
As I'm trying to catch my breath and calm down, one of the Mercedes rolls up. The driver cracks his window and says: "Do not leave your car. It is very dangerous!"
Damn, thanks Haji. I was thinking about doing it all over again.
By the way, the baboons around there are notorious -- they've been accused of attacking humans, and even towns. Here's a story I googled:
Hungry baboons attack southern Saudi town of Taif
gulfnews.com
