In many ways, the Toyota Land Cruiser and Toyota Hilux are the unofficial vehicles of Africa. The robust trucks are used for civil service, delivery, personal vehicles, safaris, and sometimes even to fight wars. You know who doesn’t normally get to enjoy the trucks as they lack both the requirement to deliver items and the ability to take part in mechanized combat? Crocodiles!
That doesn’t seem fair. Many tourists flock to Africa to grab a glimpse of the mighty Nile crocodile, which can reach 20 feet long and weigh up to 1,300 pounds. They are fierce predators, to be sure, but those stubby little legs are terrible for walking long distances. What if the crocodiles want a closer look at a tourist? What if they want to see a performance of the Tanzania Philharmonic Society?
Something must be done, and I’m excited to announce that a group of Swiss tourists and their driver donated a lightly used Toyota Land Cruiser to a group of crocodiles taking part in the Great Wildebeest Migration in Serengeti National Park this Sunday.
There’s even video on Instagram:
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Generosity comes in all forms, and this gesture is truly a beautiful sight to behold. The whole concept of the safari is itself pregnant with potential conflicts and moral quandaries. While safaris themselves can help the local economy and enable governments to fund the protection of animals, it’s the strong interest from, often, European and American tourists that have created the need for that protection in the first place.
Tourists have started asking themselves hard questions about the practice, and there’s been a growing movement by some to utilize ethical safari tourism. Call it being woke, I just call it common courtesy. We have only one planet, and we have to share. I live in New York, and sometimes it’s more convenient to cross Times Square, which is its own sort of nature documentary come to life due to all the out-of-towners. I’m usually happy to welcome these visitors, and I’m proud to say I’ve gone almost five months without punching a tourist standing completely still and waving a giant bag from the M&M Store right in front of the entrance to the 1-2-3 train at 7th and 41st Street.
As the video shows, this was a fairly spontaneous incident, with the tourists quickly jumping from the Land Cruiser before it dives into the Mala River. I suppose they saw the splendor of nature and were overwhelmed with a magnanimous spirit before they could formulate a better plan.
According to The Tanzania Times, neither the driver nor any of the passengers were injured during the impromptu donation, though the management of the Tanzania National Parks didn’t seem happy with the way it all went down, warning drivers to “read the Code of conduct book from TATO every now and then to remind themselves how great and important they are to the industry.”
Reached for comment, a local crocodile said they were grateful for the Toyota, but were actually hoping to get a Rivian.
Top photo: Africa_Global_News/Instagram
Ive been to the Mara River and to Times Square. Assuming you act intelligently in both locations, you are safer at the Mara River. Did you know that in sub Sahara Africa hippos are the most dangerous animal to humans? And they run really fast on land too. This excludes bugs who transmit diseases, as well as snakes who I suppose are animals too. Let’s make it most dangerous animal with appendages. Discuss?
In the UK the most dangerous animal is dogs, next is cows..
If you don’t punch tourists who stop in the way how will they ever learn?