Nature

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I suppose I am not too far off when I suggest that most Americans think of Africa as a 'jungle' environment. The Eastern Cape is anything but that. The Fort Cox area is dry, very dry. There is still some plant diversity left, but that is losing out to "community" agriculture and forestry. Everything outside of a village belongs to everyone and everyone's goats. As a result the grass is eaten to bare earth and the trees are cut whenever anyone wants one.

Snakes. Whenever I visit a new place I usually like to learn something about the harmful wildlife. There are a number of poisonous snakes, but the one that stuck out in my mind the most is the Boomslang (Dispholidus typus). My understanding is that this one rests in the trees. Its venom can cause death within 1-3 days from internal bleeding. Another common snake to this area is the Cape Cobra (Naja nivea). I kept hearing about the Cape Mumba, which I assume to be the same thing or close relative. Needlesstosay, anyone walking off-road in this country carries a stick and walks loudly to give the snakes time to move on. Using common sense and caution they get out of your way or you see them in time to wait for them to move elsewhere.

The only venom I got was from a wasp sting climbing up some steep terrain behind a village. Lucky for me there was only one and my hand stopped hurting after about an hour.