Danger!

Over breakfast I mentioned to Joe that I'd found a frog on the floor of my bathroom the previous night. Joe, who manages the lodge along with Natalie, asked me if I'd ejected the visitor, and I answered in the affirmative. “That's good.” said Joe. “Where there's a frog, a cobra's not far behind.”

“A cobra?” I inquired casually. “Yeah,” he replied. “A spitting cobra. The only things worse are the black mambas.” He had my attention now.

“Are these black mambas common?” I asked. “Nah, not really,” was Joe's reply. There's one that lives under that tree over there, but if you leave 'em alone they won't bother you. Just as well, really, 'cos they can rear up to about 5ft high and bite you in the face or chest. You'll never make it to the hospital. But it's been ages since anyone's been bitten.”

I returned to my breakfast and chewed thoughtfully.

The lodge had planned a day excursion for me to see the site of a battle between the Zulu and British empires at the tail end of the 19th century. Joe accompanied me on my expedition and our local guide, Thulani, gave me a fascinating and in-depth description, in the form of a sing-song story, of the events preceding and following the battle. If you've seen the movie Zulu! with Michael Caine, you'll have some idea of how these events unfolded. In fact, the hospital, as depicted in the movie, has been converted into a museum that deals with the battle and its fallout.

As part of the day's activities, we drove to the mountain of Isandhlwana, which was the site of the start of the conflict. Thulani decided that I was in decent enough shape, and we climbed to the top of the mountain. Thankfully it was another relatively cool day. The climb itself was exhilarating, with some serious (for me anyway) hand-over-hand rock climbing and perilous traversals of narrow ledges with horrifying drop-offs. Half-way up, Joe mentioned that this activity isn't listed in the brochure. I laughed and tried not to die.