What's the most Mambas you have seen on a safari?

[mdwest]

0

One puff adder.. but that’s it… and I’m thankful…

I hates a snake…

 

[bakerb]

Botswana in April 2023.

I personally saw:
1 black mamba at a pan, going away FAST,
1 puff adder at a pan,
1 banded cobra at head height next to the two track,
One snake the PH said was harmless but he made the community scout run

The guys in camp killed 6 puff adders in the days we were hunting. I think all in the kitchen area except for one that was under the dining room table (camp staff warned me not to walk at night without a light)

A tracker in another team that was scouting for my hunt was bitten and killed by a mamba on day 5. Terrible deal.

Saw a bataleur eagle with a short fat snake in its talons one day while hunting. I figure it was a small puff adder

Had a puff adder hissing at us out of a bush while on an elephant track.

And last: several snake trails seen while hunting.

Way too many snakes for one trip. All this occurred in 13 days.

Went back to the same camp in July and didn’t see a snake

 

[mark-hunter]

I met cobra and black mamba both on one safari, out of total of 4 safaris.
Both snakes seen first week September in Namibia.

 

[Green Chile]

Most of the time I see tracks but not the actual snake thankfully. Closest I have been to a live mamba (that I know of) was last year hunting red duiker in Limpopo at a very special place. We crawled around under the trees for hours calling them. As we walked out of the brush and got in the truck, the tracker looked down and pointed out the large live black mamba in the bushes we had just walked through! That was too close for me. Nasty buggers. I've seen an assortment of other snakes while hunting...cobras, puff adders, etc but most of the time you just see they have passed through recently. I tend to watch very carefully where I sit or put my hands and feet. I know it's just a matter of time until I'm on a track and a mamba stands up or falls out of a tree. I will be running the other way!

 

[CoElkHunter]

None on my one African Safari. Thankfully it was too cold. However, I occasionally see one now and again when shopping at Wal Mart. They tend to look dangerous so I stay away from them. LOL

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

I've seen 4 all in South Africa. It was May or June can't remember 2 were dead in the road 2 were crossing the road.

 

[Andrew62]

I've seen a total of 3 mambas;

1 - Zimbabwe, July 1988
1 - Cameroon, July 2000
1 - South Africa, June 2009

 

[Ngonyama]

2 mambas in Thabazimbi Feb 24.

Fist encounter in my life was one coming up the chair onto our table while having dinner after the hunt.We crapped ourselves is a mild statement.Luckily my wife heard it hiss and we went flying.

Next day out in bush ,guide freezes,”Baas,skiet hom”.Im looking for the wildebeest then he points just in front of us ,branch at head height ,a monster Mamba.Just over 3m we measured.

 

[grand veneur]

The Mamba had fallen into a water cistern at the hunting camp in Burkina Faso and was unable to escape. I don't remember the year when it was. For safety reasons we unfortunately had to forgo any form of rescue and killed it with a shotgun.

 

[saswart]

Jeez, I read this and I really thought a bunch of you are talking a load of BS. I am in the veld/bush weekly, we have a family farm close to KNP and in all the years it is not like you see one every time you are in the bush, way less. So I thought, what are the chances that some of you come to Africa and on 1 / 2 safari's you get to see one or even 2...

But then I started thinking of the times I actually encountered Mamba's, and then realized, as a mitigating factor for you all, most were spotted while out hunting. And one was actually on what I all of you would call typical open fence safari in Zim.

Bottomline, I believe most of you are lucky to have seen one, and maybe it is a sort of an African gift to get to see infamous mamba!

 

[Altitude sickness]

One mamba

It stood up next to the Land Cruiser staring at us in the back.

One spitting cobra dropped in my freind and his wife’s blind. Uninvited

And several Puff adders

 

[Pondoro]

I have seen several... But it was one nasty december in Botswana..2017 IIRC.. 5-6 mamba sightings and puffadders...my tracker almost stepped on a puffadder late in the afternoon..he stomped it with the sticks.

A shotgun come handy in the car..

 

[Kevin375]

I have had the opportunity to see 3 black mambas so far in Namibia.

The first one was in 2013, and it was bathing in the sun close to a dry pound, not far from the far. I killed it with a .223 Remington.

The second one was in 2023. It was on the track in front of the 4x4. I killed it with my 6.5 Creedmoor.

The last one was the scariest experience.
We were driving while the black mamba arrived to cross the track in front of us. Some natives are absolutely scaried by snakes, even at distance, and that was the case for that driver. While a normal driver would have probably speed up to crush it, or avoid it, this one just braked !
And of course, the car stopped just next to the snake that went under the car. The driver get off the car, screaming loudly and at the back, we jumped. But the snake was still under the car.

The girl who was with me and the driver stayed at a good distance from the car. In the meantime, I was with the tracker, trying to locate the snake. The tracker spotted it and indeed, we were able to see its scale shining between the body and the chassis. With a very long stick, he tried to push the snake and the reptile started to move. We heard it but it didn't go out.
Slowly, we tried to check under the car again but this time, impossible to locate it. I decided to turn on the car and I drove it a bit like a bat out of the hell on a short distance with a strong braking. I even turned suddendly the Land cruiser and I returned where all started. But the snake was still underneath the car, well hidden in the chassis.
I took too much risk this day and finally, we called the farm that sent another car to pick up us. The tracker stayed at good distance from the car and after one hour of waiting, he saw the snake going out of the car and it returned into the bush.

I also had the opportunity to see several puff adder, Cap and Mozambican cobras, boomslangs, zebra snakes and also a very rare shield nose cobra.

 

[odonata]

Zero mambas. But I was standing next to an unmarked "empty" cage in Zambia when I suddenly realized it had a snake in it. I'm really glad I didn't walk up on this guy in the wild:

 

[Hunt anything]

Zero mambas. But I was standing next to an unmarked "empty" cage in Zambia when I suddenly realized it had a snake in it. I'm really glad I didn't walk up on this guy in the wild:

View attachment 684660

Yep, I did walk up on a gaboon viper in Mozambique, we were looking for nyala and the lead tracker suddenly jumped to his left pointing at the trail. He had heard the snake his and we were lucky he did. One of us could have easily stepped on it. We poked it a few times with the shooting sticks to get him off the trail. He went his way and we went ours.

 

[HankBuck]

Just curious what AH members come back with.....

Please answer with:

number:
country:
year:
month:

and add any other color or story with it you want.

My account is:

2
Zambia
2024
October

One in camp parking area and one wrapped on our cruiser bumper. I thought it pretty unusual to see 2 in a week.

View attachment 684533

@EPIC SAFARIS - we saw 3, Tanzania, 2006, August. 2 were near our feet while walking thru tall grass, both of these Mambas were small (4 to 5 ft in length and dark greenish color). The 3rd one was crossing the road in front of the truck, long and black in color, it was in the 9 to 10 foot range. Our PH said he never kills them - just lets them go by. We had no desire to shoot one but also no real opportunity to do so. I also saw a small Gaboon viper - 2 feet long, beautiful markings, I wanted to pick it up for a photo (I’ve handled venomus snakes before) but the PH said “rather you didn’t” and just walked away….I thought he’s likely right and walked away also.

 

[Pondoro]

PH picked up this live puffer in Namibia 2014..

 

[Acopperdawg]

I shot a juvenile in Namibia that was probably 8 feet long with a .223. unfortunately it died in the tree and I wasn't able to recover the skin. We almost walked over two mambas mating in Tanzania. I was the 4th one back in the line and saw them in the grass ahead of our party. PH was probably 10 feet from the pair when he finally stopped. we would have walked right over them. PH and staff said they had never seen them mating before. We all agreed it was a dangerous situation and gave them a wide berth. Saw a puff adder laying in the sand in a two track. We stopped and got out to look at it. Amazing how pretty they are. I filmed her crawl into a bush and from 4-5 feet away I couldn't see her. Literally watched her crawl into the bush and the moment she stopped moving she disappeared.

 

[PARA45]

As a kid living in Nicaragua, I had every snake found in the region (Boas, Rattle Snakes, Coral Snakes, you name it). I wanted to be a Herpetologist when I grew up. LOL!!!! At that time, I was a walking encyclopedia when it came to naming snake by their scientific name and local name. Three trips to SA, and I've asked the PHs that if they see a snake to please point them out to us. So far, zero luck.

On my first safari to Limpopo, we went to Thabazimbi to a white lion preserve, and while there we saw a big commotion, people running everywhere. It turns out they were looking for a very big Python, that somehow had gotten into the preserve. I of course volunteer, and helped look, with negative results.

 

[AZDAVE]

Saw a black mamba crossing the road in Limpopo, October 2024
Cobra in Namibia August 2021
Python in Limpopo 2018, african bush snake Mapalanga 2018.