An adventure

(originally written on Instagram on 11 February 2021)

This is our little family a few days ago, sitting in the bathroom of our Addo cottage. Outside, two men are chatting to each other while they are moving the furniture. They sound on edge.

Thirty minutes before that I was reading on the couch while Mila and Kim were resting on the bed in the same room. I looked up and thought I saw something move behind the TV. I also didn’t remember there was such a fat cable behind the TV. The fat cable moved and with a loud smack landed on the floor two meters below. And about two meters from both Mila and Kim, and me.

“Snake,” I shout to Kim. She grabs the baby and I my phone. In mere seconds we decide for the bathroom over getting outside. The bathroom door was furthest away from the snake.

Safely locked in the bathroom with a towel covering the gap under the door, I call the rangers and while we wait I use the African Snake Institute app to narrow down which snake it was. The only profile that fits the one engraved in my memory is the boomslang, one of the most dangerous snakes in the region. I try to keep my cool but I know there’s a reason the rangers sound nervous.

After about 15 minutes, the rangers shout they’ve captured the snake. We exit the bathroom and a hurricane has ravaged through our cottage. Not a single piece of furniture is still in the same spot. I go out and see the rangers putting the snake in a tube. It’s indeed a boomslang. A 1.5m long one. This could’ve gone a lot worse.

We’re shaken and decide to leave Addo a bit earlier. Adrenaline is rushing through our veins. Mila has no clue what is happening but she senses it’s an adventure. She giggles all the way throughout our stay in the bathroom. Kim tries to feed her while sitting in the bath but there’s too much excitement for her to focus. She loves every moment of sitting in a confined space with both her parents.

This is our little family a few days ago, having an adventure.