Imagine driving down the road in your open car, guiding away, pointing out this bird and that plant, when suddenly just above the speedometre appears a small green head, then neck, then body...meanwhile feet are working at bringing the car to a stop and getting out of this car without just diving out the door to leave your guests rolling along driverless.
This is the experience Gabriel had this week, not once but twice, two days in a row. The first day he managed to stop the vehicle, looking for a stick for the snake to crawl onto, but it got nervous and went right back into the dashboard. He continued driving and back at camp we identified the snake from photos the guests had taken.
Now confident that it was not poisonous, everyone carried on driving that evening and the following morning.
Planes landed, new guests stepped out and old guests flew away and Gabriel set out from the airstrip once again. Shortly, he noticed the snake emerging again behind the steering wheel, and this time with greater confidence and aplumb was able to announce to his guests, while still driving, that they should have a look at the steering wheel.
The snake came out onto the mirror, was lifted and placed on a shrub, and the gamedrive continued, probably with the guests feet up on the seats. "Welcome to Katavi everyone!"
Slender Green Snake
