At the southern point of the country, a few kilometres from the border before Kartung, and nestled in the forest can be found a rather particular farm. Luc, a Frenchman who arrived a long time ago in Gambia and who is passionate about snakes, created a reptile information collection centre: The Gambian Reptile Farm.
From Banjul, it takes about an hour to drive the 62 kms. Many rapid police control stops, but all is in order and we have a local with us… “Once burnt, twice shy….” We took the map with us but the nice marked road that we saw and were looking for the other day, well we didn’t miss it, it just doesn’t exist. It’s just a project from the past which had never come to fruition other than on road maps. We tried to do a Google Earth, but the font size problems arising made it difficult to read town names so it’s not simple, on top of the fact that small roads don’t even show. A correct map must exist, the search for it continues.
Sunday 12th, we looked for Dog Island and after having done quite a bit of driving and going through villages that must see cars 3 times a year, we found, in Lamin, a tarmaced road. “Cool, this must be it, let’s go.” Actually, there were several kilometres of perfectly normal tarmaced road… which serves the purpose of accessing the petrol port. It was quite funny actually as they had put speed bumps which were completely worn down on one half. Why?… Pascal found the answer: on one side, the tanker truck is full and compacts down the road, and on the other, they come back empty. On that day, and on our own, we drew a blank; no Dog Island, no riverside lunch. Conclusion: Going off on an adventure is not our forte and we need to organise ourselves a little better.
The snake farm has been a great success. Not the easiest place to find due to the weathered sign on the side which required us to keep our eyes open at all times. Note that virtually opposite it, is the hotel Sandele sign.
Take that turn into the small lane and when you spot a blue gate, you will have arrived.
This farm is open to the public which allows it to survive, but what’s most extraordinary about it is that it serves as a centre of education for the Gambians. Seeing as there are many snakes in that country, Luc raises awareness for the locals on the usefulness of living in harmony with the snakes and other reptiles as at the end of the day, everything and everyone has its use for the balance of life.
The snakes, that are quite discreet in winter during the dry season with many hiding away, are very useful in summer, season of rain and of bountiful cultures, as they control the rodent population. A lack of snakes would signify a resurgence of these rodents and a subsequent lack of harvest eaten by these small creatures.
This information-broadcasting job is long, the game is never won, but each evolution of the audience’s mentality is a victory in itself. One day, some footballers had called Luc as a big snake was on their pitch. They perhaps missed 1 hour of football, but they had remembered what he had taught them.
On the farm, there are venomous snakes that are in big concrete “pits/vats” that we will watch with our eyes. This puff adder (Bitis Arietans – left) can measure up to 2 metres and is very dangerous even if she only attacks if threatened. Generally, she gives off imminent attack signs such as whistles or sudden head movements. What makes her dangerous is the fact that she can be very well camouflaged (bottom right) so you risk accidentally stepping on her.
The farm also has a black-necked spitting cobra (Naja Nigricollis) but this one’s kept in a terrarium and the photos weren’t that clear through the window. A nocturnal animal, it can spit its venom at over one metre. If she spits at your face and the venom reaches your eyes… you never know… one thing to do is to get someone to urinate on you. Not a very tempting course of affairs, but efficient according to the expert.
The viper (Causus Maculatus – West African night adder) is, contrary to the previous specimen, very small (70cm max). Terrestrial, she is quite slow and can rarely be seen in the dry season where she stays underground for months on end. On the photo you can see her white eggs (above “adder”). She feeds primarily on batrachians. Generally speaking, her bite is painful but not deadly and the symptoms disappear after 2 to 3 days (an anti-venom has yet to be developed). Have courage, we haven’t finished our tour of these nice little critters☺.
I didn’t see the mamba, nor the white-lipped cobra indicated on the sign seen in Bijilo Forest, but another stripy cobra (a baby Elipsoidea Semiannulata Moebieusi) as well as a crotal (Crotaphopeltis hotamboeia). What to say? It doesn’t inject venom with its bite 9 times out of 10, but is that reassuring? Don’t be so sure!
Well there you go, we’ve met some of the venomous species on offer in Gambia with the hope that… well… maybe not… we’ll see one in the wildlife. No intrepid exploration like in Mauritius; here, we’re going to play it safe.
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