This Campfire Tale called “Heart Attack Bridge” first appeared in a Dispatch, the updates sent to all Society members. You can join for free here.
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These are the stories most often told around a campfire, with a drink in hand and nature as a soundtrack. The tales are all true, but often with some artistic liberty. Names have been changed for deniability.
At a particular lodge in the Lower Zambezi region of Zambia, there is a bridge with a peculiar name: Heart Attack Bridge.
It was originally named this because this it connects two banks, and two sets of villas, over a small valley. Predators use these valleys to sneak up on impala and other prey, especially when the grass level is low. However, if you were to cross this low bridge at night and look down to see a leopard staring back at you, you would probably have a heart attack. Hence the name.
A few years after the name was originally given, it was again proven true. This time however, it was for different reasons.
You see, the lodge was run by a lovely couple, the husband born in Africa and the wife born in England. They lived full time on site and managed the day to day running of the lodge. Every night, after the last guest went to bed, they slowly made their way along the path and across this bridge, towards their own villa.
One night as they crossed the bridge there was a distant noise from in front of them. His torch at the ready, the husband swung it along from side to side to reveal a large elephant eating from a tree further ahead, blocking the path. This isn’t too uncommon an occurrence and they decided to wait it out.
After about five minutes of enjoying this moment, they noticed movement from the corner of their eye. This was movement further off to their left, from closer to the river. With the torch they tried to make where it was coming from. Was it more elephants looking for a snack?
It wasn’t. After a few seconds they realised it was a large male lion, heading straight across the path.
The lion hadn’t seen the elephant.
The elephant hadn’t seen the lion.
The lion was heading straight towards the elephant.
Normally male lions would steer clear of this situation, for despite having the title of ‘King of the Jungle’ it is the elephant who really rules the roost. This lion loped slowly towards the pathway, intersecting the elephant and the couple frozen in terror on the path.
After what seemed like forever and at the last minute the lion caught sight of the elephant and froze. In doing so, it caught the attention of the elephant who let out an almighty trumpet. The lion was terrified. It let out a mighty and deafening roar, turned on the spot and ran away in fear.
Unfortunately, in its fear it ran straight towards the bridge, and in doing so, straight towards the couple standing there.
This is where the story gets a little messy. As he tells it, the husband sprang into action, yelling “Don’t run!” to his wife and shining the torch at the approaching lion. He waved his hands above his head and made a lot of noise, yelling at the lion to hopefully get it to divert its course. The lion kept coming. Putting his wife’s safety above his own, he stretched out wide to shield her from view and proceeded to scream to try and scare the lion away. After what seemed like an eternity it worked. The lion got quite close before disappearing down into the small valley underneath the bridge and out into the bush beyond.
With a distressed elephant still nearby, the husband thought it best to get himself and his wife away to safety. Hands outstretched, he reached behind him to grab his wife’s hand.
He instead grabbed empty air.
For a few frantic seconds he looked for her, his heart pumping with fear.
She wasn’t there.
He looked desperately, searching with the torch.
And then, very faintly, he heard a distant and whispered “Hey!”. Shining the torch towards the noise, he saw her far away, up high on a villa’s front porch, hiding behind a support pillar. For, as soon as the elephant had trumpeted, she had followed her English instincts and run. Ignoring all rules of the bush, she had turned on her heels and fled to safety, leaving her husband behind on his own. She was off winning the 100m dash while her husband was trying protect his now non-existent wife on the small bridge.
The marriage survived, although the wife thinks the husband makes too much of a big deal of it. And even today, the name of the bridge endures. If you were to head there, you can see it for yourself. Not only is it the site of a rare encounter between a lion and an elephant, or a place to come across a secretive leopard, it is also the site when a man once had a heart attack after his wife magically vanished into the warm Zambian night.
