Pics of the Tree From the Wild Dog Chase Episode

Some of you have already heard this story - for your reading pleasure:


I went out for an evening run, as usual. As I approached the hill at the sand dune, I heard a group of wild dogs barking and running toward me from the top of the dune. Fearing for my life (silly me) I decided to run for the nearest escape. Luckily for me there was a tree only a couple meters away. Unfortunately, this wasn't in the United States. As Matt put it, "Everything in Africa is trying to kill you." In the US, trees don't need to defend themselves. Africa, however...


I lunged up the tree to safety, happy to have outsmarted the dogs. As soon as the adrenaline began to wear off, I started to notice a stinging in my arms and legs. Looking down, I saw some nice gashes on my legs and both hands and left arm (later I also found one on my face). I checked the tree and to my horror, found it was full of thorns, almost as long as my fingers!

When the dogs realized I wasn't coming down, no matter how much blood had drained from my body, they scampered off to find something else to bother.

The run home (about 2K) helped me find all the cuts thanks to sweat and salt. I still have a puncture wound in my left arm, as a reminder of the experience. (Note: this happened a few months ago ... no dogs were harmed in the telling of this story.)