Geckos and Monkeys and Snakes..Oh My!

As we were getting ready to leave Oregon, our friendly neighborhood postman told me story upon story about his friends who had moved to an African country. Nearly all of them had to do with snakes..coming in, dropping down, just generally being part of the their daily life. Despite my insisting that he stop, he felt it his duty to warn me.

It wasn't until we bought our first house in Amanzimtoti, that I came into contact with Kwa Zulu Natal's wildlife. My journal for April 2005 has this entry

"I have some adjustments to make to living in a house in South Africa, for sure. We have geckos everywhere - and if they decide to come in there is no stopping them. They usually startle me, but I did discover that if you speak very nicely to them while you are closing the window, they might just oblige and move themselves back outside. I think that Joshua will have a full time job in gecko removal. Either that, or David will have to invent a gecko trap. We also discovered that we are smack in the middle of Monkeytown. The old man (owner's father) warned me to not keep the kitchen windows open too far with food out, or they will help themselves. They are cute to watch, but if they are used to being fed by people, they can become aggressive. So we'll have to see how skittish these critters are. Once we have our dog in place, they will mostly stick to the trees, so that will be good! :)
Oh yes, and one other resident that I don't think I'll get used to..... as we were putting the pool net on a nice snake skin came uncoiled in the net. Gulp. I think that I'll just have to keep myself from looking for them."

It was only a month later that a troop of monkeys found their way into my kitchen..the babies were sent as decoys to the back, drawing the occupants of the house..and the resident dogs.. to the back to coo and oooh over how cute they were. Meanwhile, the large male and females played havoc in my kitchen, even playing with a cookie sheet left on the stove top. My maternal instinct took over and I became something of an animal myself screaming for them to get out of my house. The geckos and I eventually made peace - most of them moved back outside, though a few stayed behind just to give me a fright when I would move a box in the closet. And as for snakes... it wasn't until we were selling our house to move again a year later that we discovered not one, but two black mambas hiding around our house. I am thankful for the protection that God gave to Allison and Josh who discovered them, and am even more thankful that David was there to dispose of them.