Learning to Walk...Again

from Elliott

I have found that I have needed to learn to walk again. I was following Thezelwa from the garden back to the Pre School the other day and I noticed her jump in the air and pick up the pace for another 20 feet. I figured out why when she exclaimed, “inyoka!” She had walked past the chicken coop and a snake (inyoka) was sunning itself on a rock. It scurried away before I could get a look but the next day the familiar grayish brown of the Black Mamba was slithering by in the same spot. 

There are many places where we walk through tall grass or amongst the rocks. In the warm weather the snakes are more active and could be anywhere. The species vary – not all are poisonous and even some of the poisonous ones are not very aggressive. But then there are those that are poisonous and very aggressive and they can be found in exactly the same places as those that are not.

A couple of weeks ago we hosted a mobile medical clinic and a patient waiting to be seen noticed that about 100 feet from our Training Center there was a Guava tree with ripe fruit just in front of two large rocks. It was surrounded by tall grass and most of our staff had heard stories that a very large Mamba lived in the rocks but no one had told the visitor. The temptation of the ripe guava was too great and he went into the grass. Once there, he noticed just in time a very large Black Mamba just at the base of the tree. Out he came as fast as his legs would take him! Sounds almost Biblical doesn’t it – a fruit tree and a snake and impending doom?

Some of the worst are the Black Mamba, Cobra and the Puff Adders. All are found in our area with the Mamba most prevalent. It can get quite large ranging from 2.4 to 4 meters or about 7-14 feet and is very aggressive moving as fast as 20 km/hour or 12 mph.

When we were at our rural homestay a couple of weeks ago we were on a trail above the village in the mountains and our guide quickly motioned me around a large rock. We looked back from a safe distance was a Puff Adder sunning just by the rock. They tend to stand their ground and are named for the ‘hissing and puffing’ sound of their warning. We got the point real fast!

You walk differently here than you would back home where there are sidewalks and low cut grass. You are always looking out of the corner of your eye and at your feet and on the ground ahead of you for the slightest movement. And you are always ready to move fast…out of the way!