It would take months to catch up with all the things that I want to talk about on my lists of blog topics, but instead, I will plunge mid-way into our recent Africa adventure with a story you might find either interesting or terrorizing.  Our guides, Makinda and Wolfgan wanted to take us to the central Serengeti area to look for leopards, so they prepared us the night before to be ready for a long bumpy ride. Our safari camp hosts prepared some nice picnic lunches, and we timed our departure to make it back late in the day.  The guides all have a radio system, so if something is spotted, then everyone can converge and have a look.  I might describe details later of the things we found, but for now, I want to focus on lunchtime.  Makinda pulled under a nice acacia tree that would shade us during our break.  The top of the Toyota Land Cruiser was up, and it was pleasant having our lunch in the vehicle seats.   Makinda and Wolfgan exited the vehicles to walk around a bit and I saw Makinda circling back to my side of the vehicle.  He put his finger to his mouth to signal silence and invited me outside.  He whispered that he didn’t want to frighten Marcy and pointed to the branches above us where I saw the 12-foot rock python you see below.

Marcy asked what I was looking at, so I had to show her. Makinda told us that these snakes go dormant during dry weather and only need to eat a couple of times a year. This fellow never flinched the entire time we were there.

Follow these links to read more.

Eight Amazing facts about the African Rock Python

The Bizarre, Quirky, Rare and Deadly