Josh goes to South Africa and investigates the banks of the Mzintlava River where a horse-headed fish creature called the Mamlambo reportedly lurks. Then, Josh is off to Lesotho in search of the Tokoloshe, an ape-like being with enormous eyes said to appear and vanish like a ghost.
"An African safari hunting down a brain sucking river monster? Hemingway, eat your heart out." --Josh Gates
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The Research[]
If Scotland has Nessie, then South Africa has the Mamlambo, which means "brain sucker". Josh researches through news articles that this river monster haunts the Mzintlava River in South Africa, and has killed several villagers. The Mamlambo was so terrifying that the South African agricultural minister ordered a task force to hunt down this monster.
The Adventure[]
The team flew from Los Angeles to Durban, South Africa. After touchdown, Josh meets up with zoologist Dr. John Mark Midgley Phd to acquire his map of the river where sightings have occured. At 4:55 PM, the team's jeep is running out of gas so they headed for the nearest gas station which closes in five minutes. After filling the car up, the team heads to the town of Kokstad. Josh then meets with park ranger Div de Villiers, who led the task force. The ranger informed Josh that the monster usually comes out during storms. Before going to bed, the team ate and danced at the town's bar and grill. The next morning, the team heads to the village of Lubaleko, accompanied by a local translator. Josh interviews Zohiswa, a witness who saw the creature under the river's bridge, and directed them to their chief, Churchill S. Jojo. The chief explains that the flurry of sightings are situated near the bridge and the banks of the Mzintlava.
The Investigation[]
Lindsay's sighting.
At 7:13 PM, the team assembled base camp at a sandbar near the bridge, a thunderstorm in the distance. At 7:54 PM, lightning strucked and rain poured. At 7:57 PM, while Josh and Eric discuss about camera locations, Lindsay spotted something like a head jump out of the river. However, spotting a tornado in the horizon, Josh orders the entire team to go inside their tent. At 8:11 PM, Josh calls Neil and their driver to pick them up while they evacuate base camp. Luckily, Neil and their driver arrived and helped them pack up although their tent "didn't survive".
The Adventure, Day 2[]
The next morning, after playing with the village kids, Josh meets with Mamlambo witness Nothoback, who saw her friend being drowned by the monster. She also directed him to her other friend and witnes
s, Luiso, who too saw the creature killing their friend. Luiso pointed them to another Mamlambo hotspot, a riverbed a kilometer away. So, the team heads to said riverbed.
The Investigation, Day 2[]
"Not again."
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Instead of swimming in the river due to parasites, the team attached a night vision camera and a fish finder sonar on their camera case, so that it can float in the middle of the river. To avoid the case from floating away, they attached a rope on the case and the end on a heavy rock. They then threw the rock into the river, and used the rope to maneuver the case with the camera and sonar,
kind of like a pulley system. When night fell, the team talks about sea monster movies, while looking at the cameras and sonar. At 9:42 PM, the "Mamlambo signal", which is another storm, is seen in the horizon again. Josh thought he saw something in the night vision binoculars, but ignored it.
The thing that moved and passed by Camera 3
After that, they waited. At 11:20 PM, Eric saw a head in Camera 2, but Josh debunks it as a frog. At 1:07 AM, Camera 3 (the one they attached to the case with the sonar) suddenly moved. They tried to look for the thing that moved the camera, but was already gone. They reviewed the footage from Camera 2 (which shows Camera 3) and found out that Camera 2 was nudged and jumped from the river. Also, on Camera 3, they found something that passed by the camera. The next morning, they packed up and headed back to Durban, where Josh sent the footage to a zoologist.
