Python in the Pond!
May 23, 2024
You won't believe what happened this past week! Our tranquil duck pond turned into a scene straight out of a wildlife documentary when a python! Yes, a python decided to go for a swim in the duck pond. It wasn't a huge serpent or anything like that, but it was A PYTHON nonetheless and that’s enough to get anyone’s heart racing!
By the way, did you know they are also excellent swimmers and can stay submerged for up to 30 minutes?!
So there it was, gliding through the water. I guess at some point it got bored of swimming and decided to check out our duck house which if you remember is the fanciest in all of Hwange. This duck mansion is so spacious I bet an elephant could do a little twirl inside. But let's not get carried away with duck house details - back to our slithery guest.
After figuring out that our feathered friends were not in there, the python wriggled over to a nearby teak tree. It honestly looked like it was planning to set up camp there, given the amazing view.
Armed with nothing but a metal rod, Tinashe from our maintenance team casually approached the tree like he deals with crazy stuff like this every day...He carefully took the snake down from the tree and, without breaking a sweat, secured it to the ground. Then, in a move that had everyone’s jaws on the floor, Tinashe grabbed the python with his bare hand! The snake, clearly not thrilled about this turn of events, wrapped itself around his arm, hissing and making a fuss. But Tinashe? He handled it like it was just another day at work. Talk about being stranded on an island with the right person! Well…this is not an island nor were we stuck, but same thing right?
Of course, there was a round of applause for our brave Tinashe. We sadly, (and please, don't fail to notice the genuineness and the complete lack of sarcasm here), we knew it was time to bid our unexpected visitor farewell. We couldn’t let it stay in the compound - our mischievous ducks couldn’t be trusted to not try anything with the snake, and we love them too much to put them in such danger. So, Tinashe, our hero, gently placed the python in a container and took it on a little Safari. Our guides drove it far away from the lodge and released it back into the wild where it belongs.
And there you have it - Just another day, another adventure here at Gwango where the unexpected is just part of the experience, and every day brings a new story waiting to be told.