A slightly eventful stroll at Soetwater

Turned out to be quite an eventful walk today! Early morning rain, forecast to the millimetre and time by our Norwegian weathermen, cleared the air well before it was time to begin our walk from the Kom along the beachfront to as far as we felt like it in Soetwater Coastal Conservancy. The area is a breeding ground for the oystercatcher, thick-knee (dikkop) and blacksmith plover (aka lapwing) and I felt quite bad walking through the coastal scrub and grassy patches, while they screeched overhead and divebombed within 2 feet of our heads in typical distraction behaviour, while they protected their eggs/offspring. We were very careful where we put our feet and definitely did no damage, but perhaps this is not the ideal time of year for that small but productive bit of shoreline. Little wooden huts dotted the landscape, each occupied by an official of Sanparks, who munched on sandwiches and waved as we strolled by. No idea what the purpose was.
The terns who summer on the Island in Kommetjie flocked spectacularly as we passed by, doing a mini murmuration as they swooped and swept in all directions before settling down on the rocks, beaks to the breeze. A couple of herons stood alertly still, ever watchful when not hunting fish in the shallows. Gulls and cormorants added to the birdlife, but there was no sign of the many small birds that are found at Soetwater - perhaps it was too chilly still as the sun was hiding. The clouds combined with a glassy sea made for beautiful scenes as they alternated between puffy popcorn white to charcoal, and an occasional drop fell on us, although mostly when the sky directly overhead was blue - such is the nature of the weather here.
We met up with the man from the Environmental Centre, who was poking around in the bushes looking for evidence or even the goods from the previous night's break-in at the Centre. They had one last week as well, and one can only mourn the loss of the fabric of society that causes such incidents, particularly when the goods are recovered via a 'middle man' who is aware of the perpetrators.
The Centre is beautifully set up with accommodation and educational facilities for schoolchildren who come there on day visits and also up to a week, and of course adults are just big schoolchildren who also need to find out new things, so we went on a brief tour of the small bird sanctuary and snake park. What a treat! Definitely to be on your list of Things To Do.
The excitement began when a few young guineafowl escaped from the cage and I shooed them back in, at the same time catching my arm on a sharp piece of protruding metal and gouging a line of flesh from which blood poured. It was the perfect opportunity for the young lady in the office to practice her first aid skills and very good they were. The bandage looked very impressive and I decided I would keep it on for at least three days! After the birds, it was time for the snakes, just as the heavens opened and the blackest cloud dumped its contents on us. How exciting that we were inside at the very time we needed to be!
The snakes were doing what all good snakes do when feeling cold - sleeping while waiting for food. We were invited to stroke the non-venomous snakes to familiarise ourselves with different types of scales - they were cool and smooth, not at all slippery as some believe and one or two of us did the touch test while others preferred to step back. A fear of snakes is deeply ingrained in the human psyche. We were told that they hadn't been fed yet, and it was soon demonstrated that a sleeping, hungry snake is not to be trifled with. As I leaned forward with the camera to take a photo of the handler removing a carpet python from its cage, I experienced first-hand the swiftness of a strike as the snake sank its considerable fangs into his hand. I have heard that the bite of a python is very painful, and the amount of blood drawn showed how much damage can be done even though not life threatening. It's not every day one can see a snake bite up close and personal - the only thing that surprised me was that it wasn't my hand that was the victim!
We finished our walk with a very pleasant lunch in the village under an ancient milkwood, and a visit to the doctor saw me relieved of a large sum of money, jabbed with an anti-tetanus, and steri-stripped together. An exciting day indeed!