No fuzzy feelings today, let’s get down to the dark and dirty of travel. A British woman in Australia was eaten alive by a crocodile in Australia while talking a tranquil stroll by the beach with her bestie. It’s sad, it’s tragic, I am shocked. But not the way you think.
Warning: The Only Real Danger of Travelling Is This
The Danger of Travelling is Real
Let me get one thing straight. Australia is absolutely dangerous! You can get killed everywhere. It’s pretty easy actually. You can meet six of the twelve deadliest snakes in the world (the most venomous one will not flee from you), immense pain caused by box jelly fish can lead to a deadly heart attack, a shark might take a bite out of you … you get the idea. And then there are crocodiles. A crocodile will kill you. Even if it’s not hungry. It simply will. You don’t wanna meet a crocodile. But, here’s the thing: All of these potential threats are avoidable. I can go on writing about how strangers are not that dangerous, how to avoid travel dangerous budget mistakes and give you tips and encouragement. But I cannot save people from blatant stupidity.
So why on earth would a person go even close to waters that obviously have crocodiles in them (cue warning signs and crocodile spotting tours)? A crocodile might not be bothered to hunt you on land (fun fact: I once camped 200m away from them once and we even did a night creepy crawler tour where we shone our torchlight at them – our guide was seriously crazy) but if you come close to the water – even if you are still on the beach – it might just jump out and grab you. And once it’s got you, there is no way you can survive or be saved from these predators. They have been around back when dinosaurs roamed the earth!
Accidents Are Not that Rare but Are Avoidable
Here’s another fun fact: when I was on tour in the Blue Mountains, there was a couple who would climb over the fences, ignoring the warning signs of danger, and wade around in a waterfall at a giant cliff. The rocks were brittle, the ground slippery and we all stood there watching them (because they were ruining our photos and it was like an accident – you cannot look away). They even had the cheek to hold each other’s hands and lean over the edge. They lost their balance, wavered… and could catch themselves in the last second. Needless to say they were absolutely proud of themselves. I hated their guts henceforth.
It’s one thing to put yourself in danger but it’s another when you make other people witness it (you bet I would have been traumatised– we did warn them, though). Just a few months before my visit, a British girl had tumbled to her death in Kings Canyon while taking a group jump photo near the canyon rim. She tripped and fell down. The tour group could see her lying in a heap, still alive on a ledge below. She died soon after the rangers could reach her. To be fair, a cliff nearby is a major tourist attraction with way signs but has been overdue of crumbling to pieces for 50 years. Regular tourists wouldn’t be able to know. So you always need to be careful.
No shocking world news should scare you away from attempting to travel and I would always want to go back to Australia. Yes, it’s dangerous, but the world is no child proof place. (And apparently most accidents happen at home anyway). No matter where you go, you can be in danger if you provoke it and are being reckless. And at the same time, you can be safe if you take care of yourself and your surroundings. So here are my top four rules to stay safe and sound while travelling.
[su_box title=”Survival Rules for Travelling” box_color=”#464646″ title_color=”#e6e6e6″ radius=”1″]Rule #1: Use common sense.
Rule #2: Inform yourself and follow the signs.
Rule #3: Don’t give in to vanity (do you really need to be in that crazy picture?).
Rule #4: Don’t blindly follow the masses. (Just because you saw it on facebook, doesn’t mean it’s ok)[/su_box]
[su_divider top=”no” divider_color=”#464646″ link_color=”#464646″ size=”2″ margin=”10″]
Ok, rant over. I just had to get this off my chest. I want you to enjoy your travels to the fullest and not be worried by such world news. When I was in Australia and someone went fishing in the most crocodile infested river (!), world news made it seem as if Australia was just waiting to kill you. I got a call from my parents straight away. Just be sensible for your own and other people’s sake.
What do you think about taking risky pics while travelling for that epic shot? Would you do it? And would you even think about getting close to crocodiles?
Katie says
Just a heads up about the girl who died in Kings Canyon. She wasn’t cliffhanging, she was about to jump down onto a large stable boulder for a group photo with everyone else and tragically tripped just at the wrong moment and plummeted to her death. My brothers flatmate was one of the tour guides. That was a tragic accident, not her being reckless
Annemarie Strehl says
Hi Katie, thanks for your remark. I remembered she was said to have taken a jumping picture but then I found it said on the internet that she did the cliffhanging one, but I’ll change it. I hope your brother’s flatmate is doing better. It must have been very tough.
Our Wanders says
We agree wholeheartedly with your post! Accidents can happen everywhere whether you travel or not. We’ve hiked a lot in US national parks where there are wild animals which could be dangerous – like grizzlys, mountains lions or rattlesnakes. But when hearing about an attack in the news usually it turns out that the people involved were hiking alone and/or off the trail – which both are strongly discouraged. It doesn’t mean that we can’t ever be attacked if we are careful and hike on dedicated trails, but everything in life has a risk. Even if you stay at home (how many of your friends have broken their leg when falling off the stairs? we could name a few…). Not to even mention driving a car…
And no, we would never think of trying to make friend with a crocodile… or grizzly bear… or whatever which has instinct to kill us immediately. :D
Annemarie Strehl says
Hi Csaba and Bea, thanks for your comment. And it sounds very exciting, the places you have hiked to. I unfortunately haven’t done a lot of hiking when I was in the USA but really would like to the next time I am in the country. And you are absolutely right, broken legs at home are no news.^^
And staying on the paths is always a good idea – even though it seems tempting to stray.