Playful baboon performs acrobatic dive into the water

Living and working in a remote wilderness area in the African wild of the Greater Kruger National Park in South Africa, gives me and my wife the daily opportunity to live among, see and sometimes interact with a multitude of animal species found in the wild. This video shows a great example of our local resident baboons making use of our self-build bush swimming pool on a hot summer day with some hilarious behavior to go with it all.

Being fortunate enough to live so close to a large variety of animal species, we often get to see some amazing and unexpected events that mostly put a big smile on our faces. Living in the African wild also means living along with the extreme heat of the summer months. So over time I decided we needed a swimming pool just big enough for two people to help us cool down on those long and very hot summer days. With a help of few fellow workers, we managed to use rock from the local environment to build this bush-style swimming pool. It doesn’t look like much but it works extremely well. It was during one of those scorching hot days where temperatures rose beyond 40 degree Celsius. My wife and I had a quick cool down in our bush-style swimming pool during lunch time and after we headed out again back to work.

It was just past five in the afternoon and the temperature outside was still unbearable. When I walked into the house, I saw through the window that someone was actually in our swimming pool. My confusion to who might be in my pool right now was quickly replaced by the realization that it was actually a small group of baboons. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I went outside and the baboons jumped out and ran off not too far, sitting in the shade while staring at me. My wife was not home yet so I thought I would capture these baboons swimming for her to see later on. The baboons were having the time of their lives, totally loving the water. It was like watching a couple of kids play in the swimming pool. The video shows the highlight and most hilarious part of the whole event. I watched all the baboons climbing into the water fairly gently but one specific baboon decided it was time to show off.

While the one baboon was in the water, the other suddenly appeared. The baboon analyzed the situation for a short while before running to the other side of the pool, looking extremely excited. The baboon then pulled itself up from the swimming pool wall and jumped into the air to perform the most hilarious looking acrobatic style dive into the water. It all happened so quick, I had to add the little slow-motion bit at the end to really appreciate the unbelievable excitement and freedom the dive was performed with. To date this was definitely still one of my top highlight experiences and sightings while living and working in the African bush.