An unwelcomed guest in my Bed!!! The Herald Snake/red-lipped snake

By Sodwana Bay

Imagine getting into bed just to feel something wriggle or even bite you! I would definitely scream like a girl! Well I did scream like a girl on Christmas night 2019 when my cat decided to bring me a live Christmas present – a giant rat bit my finger, but that’s a story for another day! No this article is about our poor pups that got a seriously unwelcomed cuddle buddy in their kitchen bed! What we presume to be a baby herald snake also known as the Red lipped snake was looking for some warmth on a cold winter’s night, unfortunately it did not get the welcoming party it expected! Tom was in the bedroom and I was enjoying a nice warm shower, when all of a sudden 1 of our 4 pups – Racer started barking. Now although these pups are already huge for their age, they are still babies and are scared of everything, so they tend to bark at anything and everything that goes bump in the night! And this snake was no exception! This is the very first time these puppies have ever seen a snake and I am so grateful they rather bark at their fears then bite the thing that scares them. At first we thought Racer was barking either at his siblings or he got a fright for something… Tom and I got to the kitchen almost at the same time and at first were confused about why Racer was barking at his bed; of course the rest of the pups had already retreated to the bedroom not even taking chances with this strange creature! Sorry for the poor quality pics – We only had our cellphone cameras on hand and wanted to get this poor snake back to safety as soon as possible! The little snake was very courageous in trying to ward off the giant! It tried blowing its head up and standing up like a cobra, although a cobra has a hood and this little guy/girl did not! – Fun fact this is typical defense mechanism for them… Although they are mildly venomous they pose no threat to larger mammals only toads and frogs! – Click the link below to find more fun facts like this 1! Flicking its tongue and hissing it pretended to be a mighty snake although it was really small. It definitely worked in scaring off the enemy. We were fortunate to have been able to catch the poor snake before the Jack Russell’s got their chance to jump in. Unfortunately these small dogs were bread to hunt and bite before they think! Our little snake friend luckily calmed down real quick after a couple tries in getting it in the container to set it free! It was a little bit of a mission as it kept flicking itself out with the back of its tail every time we put it in the jug! Well I guess it’s not the easiest thing in the world catching a snake with oven gloves/mittens and trying to chuck it in a small jug that is a little shorter than the snake itself! I am just so grateful this snake was harmless and that it doesn’t appear to have bitten any of our pups… Now our puppies are super cautious going to lie on the bed. They sniff and lift everything up before lying down just to make sure there’s nothing waiting to chase them off again! Click on the link to find out all the fun facts about the herald snake/red-lipped snake!  >>>>>> Herald/Red Lipped Snake


Consultation on the Draft IMP kicks off – iSimangaliso Wetland Park

By Sodwana Bay

The iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority (iSimangaliso Authority) hereby invites interested and affected parties to provide input and comment on the draft Integrated Management Plan (IMP), relevant to the years 2022-2031. The IMP is a strategic framework plan for decision making that has been drafted in terms of the World Heritage Convention Act 1999 (Act No.49 … Consultation on the Draft IMP kicks off Read More » Source: Consultation on the Draft IMP kicks off – iSimangaliso Wetland Park


Our wheels are gone…. please help us?

By Sodwana Bay

We need your help? We were in a horrible head-on collision which we walked out with minor bruises… Gods hand was on us! He is so faithful… Please help us to get another vehicle – go and read our story here>>> https://gogetfunding.com/our-car-is-gone-we-need-wheels/


Car Crash – Head-on Collision!!!

By Sodwana Bay

We had the unfortunate misfortune of being in a head-on collision with a  driver on Wednesday 19th August 2020 on our way to HluHluwe. We are so sorry for the other driver who has sustained real critical injuries and we are keeping him in our prayers and thoughts. We are also thinking of his family and pray for a speedily recovery.   We on the other hand were so blessed and God’s hand was on our lives – we walked out of the Head-on only with LOTS of aches and pains and real minor scrapes and bruises. Although our emotional state is an entire different story! We were helped by total strangers getting back to our home close to Lake Sibaya due to the fact we could not afford car insurance during the COVID-19 pandemic. They even helped us with our puppies and cat. We were on our way to Hluhluwe State vet to get our 5 Pups and 1 cat neutered and spayed. Support Us? It is bad enough that we had to be in a Head-on, but it was even worse seeing the panic in our dog children’s eyes after the crash… One of the pups flew into the windscreen, but Rain is recovering just fine as she is of the Africanus breed which is extremely resilient as their ancestral breed originates from the Bushman- Koi-San. We are totally devastated at the loss of our only vehicle and are at the moment stuck at our current location. We truly need help as we can’t get to our closest town which is about 15km away. Our friends and family have jumped in with delivering household goods, but sometime soon we can’t just keep on relying on them to drive the 15km to us. Support Us? The funds will go towards purchasing a small vehicle to continue our daily lives and carry on with our work here in Sodwana Bay. We need a reliable 4×4 vehicle as most of the tracks here are only sand. We really need your help as we did not plan for this to happen. We saved up for 4 years for this vehicle and now it’s gone. Please HELP!!!