On my recent safari with Philip Chollet at his Kidepo concession in Karamoja, Uganda. I was being fairly casual about zipping up my tent when leaving camp. The last night when we returned to camp, the camp manager showed me something hanging on the branch of a thornbush by my tent. Closer inspection showed it to be the remains of a 3ft cobra, beaten to a pulp and barely recognisable. The tail end of it had been seen disappearing into the front area of my tent, under the tarp placed as a ground sheet. They had pounded on that thing under the ground sheet and then dragged out the groundsheet and pounded on it again.
I shudder to think what might have happened if I had gone into my tent in the dark, particularly as I developed diarrea and was in and out my tent throughout the night.
So remember to zip up your tent tightly when you leave. This is Africa with loots of surprises.

Wouldn't that be a nasty surprise.......

I hate leaving the tent unzipped.

Good advice. I always "batten down all of the hatches" before I leave, and I always carefully inspect every nook, crevice and cranney when I return. I hate surprises, especially those kind!

Zip up front and back.

I always zip the back as well if I have an ensuite shower.

I killed a snake under the pallet that I stood on to shower one night in Tanzania.
I am not a jumpy person by nature but after that I looked like Barney Fife shinning my flashlight behind the dresser, under the bed ect... every night before I went to bed.

my tent front at Arda in Zim was broken and would not zip up at all. We had a leopard come by the front of camp every couple of nights coughing his displeasure at us being there. AND THE DAMN TENT WOULDN'T ZIP UP... not to worry my PH said that African leopards "usually" don't eat people and that I should worry more about the OLD female lion that visited camp EVERY night....AND THE DAMN TENT STILL DIDN'T ZIP UP!!!

I hate the shower drains with no cover on them as well. The first time you see a frog in the shower, one has to wonder what else can crawl up the pipe.

I would also strongly suggest that you leave all duffle bags, carry-ons and gun cases zippered and/or closed as well when inside your tent. Otherwise you could be in for an uncomfortable surprise. Snakes aren't the only thing you should be aware of in Africa.

For the life of me I cannot understand why anyone would not carefully and completely zip up their tent.

Zipping up your tent is like buckling your seat belt in the car. The small amount of effort is well worth mitigating the risks.

I also pack a small spray bottle of permethrin to spray the area where the zippers close.

I agree with LionHunter. We also zip up all our duffle bags and backpacks before going to bed.

I also agree with Larry. I hate shower drains without covers. I know a guy that was bitten on the foot by a small copperhead from shower drain at a deer camp in Texas, out in the middle of nowhere. In no time at all, his foot doubled in size.

I hate snakes and spiders!!!!!

I left mine unzipped as there was a female leopard wandering about between the tents and, well, you know, one gets lonely....I was far from home....oh wait, my maloquin was kicking in...bad dream

Karamojaman,
Could you post a report about your hunt/trip?

I've always zipped up the tent, unless the zipper was broken, in which case I asked that the zipper be fixed, and it always was -- eventually, usually by the time I got back from the next day's hunt. Yes, the staff thinks I'm a panzy.

Not sure it would keep out a snake anyway. Probably would discourage one.

It definitely will not keep out scorpions, as I've discovered (wear your shower shoes to the loo, ensuite or not). At least in my case, the intense pain only lasted a few minutes, the serious swelling, throbbing and discoloration only a few hours, and the numbness and tingling only a few days. So I don't worry much about scorpions, but I understand there are different species, so don't take my experience as advice.

Larryshores' comment about frogs gives me some serious pause. I've had "pets" in the tent. A rather large lizard in Tanzania last year. I wondered how he got in, but as I said, I don't think zippers will keep out a determined reptile.

But Larry's comment about the frog in the shower was more disconcerting. He's right. How did the frog get in there? If there is a frog, there could be a snake wanting to eat the frog.

Reminds me of Fred. Fred was a very green frog, who lived on my shower drain in the Selous. He was a rather likeable fellow, who allowed me to nudge him out of the way while I showered. I presume he returned to his place soon after as he was there the next night. We got to know each other rather well.

Never thought about zipping up duffles and backpacks in the tent. I usually keep them on the spare bed, so I think that is rather paranoid. Just my two cents.

I was at the intersection of 2 national parks in India last year doing wildlife viewing. A friend and me stayed over night. We both had our own British campaign tents - easily besting some of the nicest luxury en suite tents in Africa.

I kept thinking, "Yeah - the tent is zipped up, but no one here has a freakin' gun and what if a tiger decided to have a snack?"

The manager of the camp had darted a man eater a few years earlier in the area and not less than 6 months after we were there, a man eater started chomping on people in the same area we stayed. Nice.

We stayed in a very nice fishing camp up on the Zambezi and the chalets were literally designed to be open between the side walls and the ceiling...and the fronts had no doors. There was a little "cling cling cling"one night as the interior upright coatrack banged against the interior wall. In the total blackness, under our mosquito netting, my wife quietly whispered "Turn on the light and see what that is". I just replied, "No thanks" and went back to sleep. By the tracks the next morning, it turned out to be an African Wildcat. Not a bad visitor as visitors go!

Its quite difficult when you don't have a tent..

Karamojo...would love to see a report on your trip there.

I had frog living in my cinder block hut in Zim with me two weeks plus huge spider
I enjoyed the company, not kidding.

quote:

Originally posted by ozhunter:
Its quite difficult when you don't have a tent..

Good to see that it is not only my buddies and I who have different degrees of "luxury" in our hunting camps: From,groundsheet only,through the luxury of a camp bed and the real 5-star camp: Complete with chairs and a table! I'm sure ozhunter will fit well into our group! We never bring a petrol driven generator. Nor a portable TV, as some hunters are lost without one in camp!

The wall spiders are gems. No threat there.

Came back to the rondavel after dinner one night in Limpopo. Without turning on the light, I lifted up the toilet seat,(yeah, the missus was on that trip with me), and touched something reptilian. Thank God it was a frog, and that I had extra undies!

quote:

Originally posted by Texas Blue Devil:
I hate snakes and spiders!!!!!

Me too!

Zipping up your tent is great advice. Unfortunately, about half the tents I've been in had broken zippers. Usually all you could do was tie the two or three straps available. I got tagged by a scorpion that came visiting and moved in to my back pack when I reached in for something. If you get up in the dark, a sweep with your flashlight first is always a good idea and check your shoes and slippers before you put them on.

When I broke my leg (the first day of my 2001 safari in Tanzania) I had to use a camp chair as a walker. It was very difficult to zip up the tent to the very bottom, so I got rather lazy about that.

One morning as my husband and I were getting ready to depart for our hunt, he asked me if I had seen his glasses strap. Me, "Oh, there it is just sticking out from under your duffel!" As he reached down to get it, it moved completely under his duffel! He ran out of the tent and left me inside (as I couldn't hop that fast with the chair). I screamed (definitely like a girl) for our PH, who came running with the guys. With me still inside the tent, they lifted the bag and killed a non-venomous snake. At least that is what they told me. Apparently it was after the frogs that had slipped into the tent as well.

I have never, never left a tent even partially unzipped again. (If it won't go all the way down, stick a towel or something else to take up the open space.)

Regards, D. Nelson