Snake in the Grass

The Drakensberg Mountains lack the giraffes and other big game we saw at Lapalala.

But we did get up close and personal with deadly wildlife of a smaller variety.

On our third day in camp, we spotted a tribe of baboons outside our cottage window. An especially bold (or especially hungry) member leapt the fence into our yard to raid vegetable scraps from a grill.

We’ll call him Bob.

Unfortunately, Bob the Baboon made his appearance and getaway so quickly I couldn’t get a picture. Perhaps sensing my disappointment, his more reserved companion was kind enough to pose a distance shot.

Our panoramic window view also invited a herd of Eland one late afternoon. Several hundred came to graze just beyond the campsite fence. When two hikers appeared on the nearby road, the herd spooked and galloped away.

Sometimes the smallest creatures are the most interesting. During our hike to the canyon where Bob proposed, we came across some really cool bugs.

My favorite spotting was a tiny, tiny field mouse. This little guy was exerting a tremendous force to keep perfectly still so we wouldn’t see him. He was so good that we thought he was dead until we saw his eyes blink.

Bob and I would never have spotted him, except that we were exploring the area to identify a small squeaking or chirping sound that had intrigued us. We never did find the source of the noise, though.

But the prize for the coolest — and closest — wildlife encounter goes to Bob, who stepped on a huge snake sunning itself in the middle of the hiking path!

Here you can see the fat guy after he slunk off into the grass. He is really hard to spot with his camoflauge; that pale flash in the lower right of the picture is his head. You can barely make out his fat body above that, in the center of the frame.

I have since been doing some research on South African herpetology websites and it turns out Bob’s friend was a puff adder. Had we known that at the time we might not have stuck around to take so many pictures, since the species is highly poisonous!

Luckily for us the puff adder is only active at night; he must have been napping in the warm sun of the path. Rather than biting Bob for so rudely interrupting his dreams, he slithered sleepily off into the grass and eventually into a hole, affording my camera a better shot.