First memory of a snake

When I was 3 years old we had moved to a property called "Jabulani", which means to be happy in the native Ndebele tongue.  The house was on a large property and had many large trees and bushes on it.  The back of the property bordered a cattle farm and on the front was a stone wall with a gate.

One day I walked up the driveway and climbed onto the stone wall.  I was looking back towards the house when I noticed what looked like a thick black hosepipe coming out of a hole next to an old musasa tree.  I realised I was looking at a large, long snake and was fascinated.  The snake wrapped itself round the tree twice as if to stretch itself then it uncoiled itself  and came straight towards the wall.  It went into a hole at the base of the wall and disappeared beneath  my dangling feet.

My Mum came up the drive shortly afterwards and was shocked when I told her about the big snake I had just seen.  She got the gardeners to try and dig around the wall to kill the snake but they found nothing.

I now think I either saw a black mamba or an Egyptian cobra.  I also think because I showed no fear, I did not panic the snake and in doing so risk a snake bite.

Africa's Deadliest Snakes

First encounter with a snake

I don't have any memory of my first encounter with a snake but my Mum does.  We were living on a farm near Gwelo, Rhodesia, (later renamed Zimbabwe.)  I was just a few months old.  My Dad was an air force pilot and my mother was a house wife.  One afternoon my Mum left me in the pram at the bottom of the garden underneath an acacia tree.   It was a warm day.  When she came to see if I was all right she saw that I was sleeping.  To her horror she noticed a baby cobra coiled up at the bottom of the pram.  She decided not to move it for fear of her or I getting bitten.  She knew I would be OK if I stayed still, and I was wrapped up.  She stood back a few meters and after about half an hour she watched the snake uncoil itself and slowly slide out of the pram and then wriggle off into the thick grass at the end of the garden.  Fortunately neither of us were hurt because even baby cobras have enough venom to kill an adult, so as a baby I would have stood no chance.

Introduction

I was born in 1966 in Harare, Zimbabwe which is in Southern Africa.  I did high school in
Cape Town, South Africa and over the years travelled many miles between the two countries.  My favourite places were those parts of Africa where the wilderness had been untouched by man.  I have been fortunate to have seen many of the wild animals that Africa is famous for as well as those that are not so likeable such a snakes, scorpions and spiders.  I have dedicated this blog to Africa to hold the memories alive for myself and family and to share this with any interested readers.

We had to leave Africa due to circumstances caused by idiotic policies of the Zimbabwean government.  In 2002 they decided to take the farms away from commercial farmers and in the process destroyed the economy.  We have now been in the UK  for seven years.  I am very grateful to the British Government that allowed my family and I to live here even though I was not born here.  My Grandfather was born in UK and his Mum and Dad left for Africa when he was one  year old.  If my Grandfather had been born in Africa we would have had no rights to come back to the UK and I hate to think what would have happened to me and my family if we could not have left when we needed to.

  

Through out my life I have struggled with Bipolar Disorder and now living in a stable country has made a world of difference.  I have written another book on this aspect of my life which I will share at a later stage.  

That's all for now.