So far being stuck at Riverside hasn’t been all that bad. I thought it would be boring, but the work has been good and there is usually something to do.
Lately the work around here has consisted of hiking around Riverside’s property line with a G.P.S., a large blue pipe, and a bundle of steaks. You might call it surveying. Alan gets at the top of a mountain and lines himself up with the property line using his transit. The rest of us walk around with the big pipe and he tells us where to put the stakes. All Alan sees is the tip of a flexible pipe waving around above the trees. We hammer in a stake once every 100 meters. Once the stake is in, we record its position on the G.P.S.
After two weeks of this, I am glad to say that I did not run across any poisonous snakes. Andrew Marsh was hoping that we would, but I was praying that we wouldn’t, so I spoiled his plans. From what it sounds like, the only snake to worry about is the black mamba. If you get bit by one, you are basically dead, unless you cut off the part of the body that was bitten real fast or you are minutes from the anti-venom. All the other snake bites are dangerous, but are more slow to react, giving you time to get to a hospital.
The other day I woke up early, got in the boat here at Riverside, and paddled into the Kafue River. I fished for a little while with a silver spoon (The only bait I had at the time). I noticed a lump of weeds floating on the water about 70 yards away. I thought nothing of it until I saw it open its mouth and expose its large tusk-like teeth. I grabbed my binoculars and watched the hippo for a while. I didn’t catch any fish, but it was still a good morning.
Lately we have all been getting real tired of the food in the cafe. The most flavorful part is flicking roaches off of the table at breakfast. I am really tired of stale whole-wheat buns. I’ve now decided to diversify my diet a bit, so I bought some granola at Shoprite. Thanks to Mom for sending me some powdered soy-milk!
