After a marathon packing exercise (with virtually no pre preparation) starting at 6:30 pm the preceding day , I departed at dawn for a night at Shipandane , followed by the Sweni and then the Napi trail . Suitably satisfied with some of my wilderness trail experiences I eventually arrived at Tsendze after leaving Numbi gate and re-entering at Phalaborwa after shopping for six nights camping provisions at Kruger Spar .
My new four man Howling Moon dome tent and gazebo which I had not previously pitched resulted in a four hour wrestle in the dark , and I was ready to light a fire and enjoyed my first night of new found freedom with a braai and a few Red Hearts with coke and plenty ice .
As an environmentally conscious type I naturally prefer tinned beverages as I believe tins are better for the environment , being easier to recycle and being compressible require less space in the dustbin . With limited space in my gas freezer – I did not want to use the communal fridge for my meat – I bought a limited amount of tinned coke and had to replenish my supplies , and thus forced to visit Mopani for ice I relied on their supply of coke . After the first resupply I was dismayed as I detected something strange about the taste of my fireside beverage .Could it be a change of life that I was losing my taste for Red Heart ? As it was late and I had been fortunate to have had two good tasting doubles I laughed it off to slight enebriation and abstained further consumption .
The following night I again experienced the eerie feeling of Red Heart rejection , the soft lantern light was insufficient to probe the innards of my campside freezer where I kept a tin in reserve and I in desperation I was forced to use my headlamp to make a proper search for the last coke , only to notice I had in fact bought vanilla flavoured coke , thus the situation was saved , I knew what had caused the bad taste .
It was with satisfaction that I discovered the last regular flavoured coke and relaxed with a nightcap . I heard the wind rustling the mopani leaves and thought it strange as it was a windstill night , and wondered if it could be the vanilla flavour that was effecting me , when in the lantern light I noticed a long snake emerging from the leaf litter heading towards my gazebo , and in a flash I stood up . By then the snake was making for my fridge , its tail had not emerged from the leaf litter , but luckily it stopped and retreated , it appeared to be not much shorter than 3 metres .
I followed it and I heard it accelerate ahead , but disretion intervened .
This was the large snake that Rodger had with wide eyes told me about that was leaving a wide trail around the camp .
The snake appeared from the right and was probably halfway towards the gazebo with its tail still in the leaf litter ...(The charcoal is used to assist the lighting of the fire)
