Boomslang in my bike

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Vaalseun

Pack Dog
Joined
Nov 11, 2009
Messages
475
Reaction score
2
Location
Offshore
Bike
BMW R1200GS HP2
I will not bore you all with any of the foreplay, suffice to say that we had a nice breakfast just outside Delmas and some coffee at Dullstroom before we hit the road towards Graskop where we were going to overnight.


Isn't she beautiful. I always admire her standing like that, with the right curves in the right places. Just a pity I did'nt get her front wheel in the picture as well, then you would really have been able to admire her true beauty.




Going down Long Tom pass.





The chalets at Panorama just outside Graskop is my favourite overnight spot. It's cheap and basic, but always clean with the most spectacular scenery.




Next morning we visited the Pinnacle, took some photo's and just enjoyed the beauty. Just an observation ...... nowadays you have to pay R5 to see one of God's finest creations. First we thought the R5 goes towards keeping up the ablutions, but this soon proved not to be the case as there was no toilet paper in the toilets. Then we thought that it was to pay the lady that collected our R5, but some sums quickly revealed that all the money collected in a month would not be enough to even pay her a very basic wage. At last we concluded that it was just done because it was the in-thing to collect money nowadays, so that tourists could be a little more inconvenienced.




While I was waiting for Mrs. Vaalseun to return from the ablutions-without-toilet-paper, one of the people in the parking area shouted that I must watch out for the snake. As I spun around, I just caught a glimpse of a boomslang cruising over the open ground towards my bike, up the spokes of the back wheel and disappearing somewhere inside the panels. I'm no great snake expert, but I know for sure that this was a boomslang based on the following facts:

1. It fitted the description of a boomslang as explained by oom Schalk Lourens in Herman Charles Bosman's Mafikeng Road

2. There are many trees in the area

3. "Boomslang" just has that sound to it that makes you think, hey this is dangerous

4. He was very quick up the spokes of the back wheel

Anycase, it was a bit of a joke at first, and I thought I'll just take off the seats and casually remove the boomslang. Note the guy with the brown shirt who claimed a prime position in the whole circus, possibly by virtue of the fact that he first spotted it, I mean after all....




The guy in the brown shirt suggested that I start the bike, hoping that the boomslang would get uncomfortable with the heat from the engine and politely leave the scene. Being his snake, I duly complied although I secretly doubted that it would help the situation at all.




Boomslang se kind was however not born yesterday, and he just stay put. In the meantime a sizeable crowd started to gather, cameras at the ready




The guy with the brown shirt realized by now that he may stand accused of raising a false alarm, and he did his best to find the snake before anybody else. While he kept looking, I took out my little tool-bag to start stripping the side-panels. I even had the presence of mind to put my gloves on, while wondering at the same time if it is any use. Anyway, it looked cool and I could see from the looks on the bystander's faces that they thought I was in complete control of the situation.




In the meantime a couple of snake-charmers had a go, but this was no Indian Cobra, or whatever it is that snake charmers play with. No, this was an african boomslang who decided that he will not be fooled by anybody, no matter what his nationality or whatever colour shirt he wears.




After having removed some panels on the one side we could see the snake, who at this stage was quite comfortable and had no intention of leaving. The rather large eyes and the bright green colour confirmed my suspicion, which I later also confirmed by reading Mafikeng Road again......that was the part where oom Schalk was lying under the thorn tree with his hat over his eyes halway up Abjaterskop ..... but lets leave that for now.




Having found the snake, made the situation a little worse as the crowd now expected extreme bravery. In the meantime the guy in the brown shirt retreated to a safe distance and I was more or less on my own. I decided to try and agitate the snake by poking a thin stick into the cavity where he was spotted, hoping that he would depart...which is exactly what he did. He came out at the back over the area where the seat fits, and I managed to get him onto the stick which I then promptly ditched while trying to keep my composure.




I estimated him to be about three metres long, although some of the less reliable by-standers reckoned he was only about one metre long. I did not argue though, as there was still some nice riding to be done. I thanked the guy in the brown short for his help, put the panels back and off we went.




Next stop was the Maria Shire falls, which are not signposted with the result that there was no crowd, no african art sellers and no R5-collector. We decided to pull off and spend some time.




No, this picture was not copied from a BMW Motorrad advert.







I the true spirit of adventure riding, Mrs. Vaalseun made use of the opportunity to experience nature at it's best.








The rest of our journey was without incident, and we approached Gauteng as the sun set. We were both tired, but we thoroughly enjoyed our little excursion.




 
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