Too close for comfort on Kilimanjaro Safari
by David
(Louisiana)
Bridge rail damage from the truck
My wife and I went on Kilimanjaro Safari in May of 2008. The safari vehicle came to an abrupt halt when we were going over the bridge that is designed to fake collapsing (it’s also the one that has “larger than me” reptiles in the water below). The driver was calm and did all he could to not cause panic. He repeatedly tried reverse and forward to free the truck while it kind of listed to the left but he was unsuccessful. He radioed for help (not “Simba One To Harambe Village” - real help).
The maintenance CM freed the truck by reversing and then flooring it into forward. Evidently, a suspension spring broke and the truck was riding much lower than usual (undetected by the driver) causing the fender to become jammed on the bridge rail. We were escorted to the nearest emergency exit after an hour of watching the reptiles drool. Our damage control host CM gave us bottled water and a fast pass to an attraction of our choice in AK for the day.
We were also escorted again to the front of the line at Kilimanjaro Safari. The driver of our replacement safari vehicle was informed of our experience and he immediately said, “And you guys want to go again?” We used our fast pass on Kali River Rapids.
