They only come out at night . . . .   Sounds like a series of movies, or a dark novel, or fodder for a children’s fairy tale, or an Edgar Winters Band Album.  Question is:  who are they and what do they do?

Fear is an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous.   Fear can flavor your decisions for the good and for the bad.  None of us should live in fear because we will miss some of the most spectacular adventures of all, but we should all have a healthy respect for certain situations.

When we visited South Africa, we knew it would be more dangerous than many other countries. Ron and I had remembered the apartheid stories of street violence and riots.  But that was twenty years ago.    Although in most places we were still in the minority, we weren’t unreasonably afraid.

We respected the country and took the necessary steps to be cautious, never wandering off too far, and never leaving our stuff sitting around. And we didn’t go out at night.  Because you know what they say:  They only come out at night!  We didn’t know what, but we weren’t taking any chances.  LOL

Truth is, few people wander out at night in South Africa, not merely because it is so wild or dangerous, but because streets and roadways are so poorly lit.  (We take streetlights for granted here in the USA).

Looking through our shots of South Africa by day, we found:

Whereas these are three of our favorite shots of South Africa by night:

Never let fear of the unknown stop you from going to one of the most beautiful places on earth.  Do your homework before you go.  And when it comes to South Africa, see it by day.  Make up your own scary stories at night!

Dawn