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

[Red Leg]

Two mambas. One in Namibia in 2008 and one in Mozambique 2014.

One Gaboon Viper. During the same safari in Mozambique in October 2014. They are somewhat like an overgrown puff adder in drag. Absolutely the most lethal looking creature I have ever seen.

 

[JG26Irish_2]

Zero in one trip to Limpopo in July 2024. Hope to keep it that way. Next trip is in June to Free State and back to Limpopo. Am told they are less active in the winter months.

 

[Trogon]

First trip Eastern Cape, April, encountered a boomslang on the ground. Tried for a photo but it retreated into a large glass clump. The other client in camp came across a Cape Cobra.

 

[channelkat]

1
Moz.
Sept 23.

I was very surprised at how fast it was and how tall his head stuck up. I pleaded with my ph to let me take him (REALLY wanted a hat band and belt), but Jumbo wasn’t having any of it. About the only request he wasn’t willing to accommodate.

 

[AZSkibo]

One in Thabazimbi last November along with a puff adder. Onset of seasonal rains seems to have brought them out at the time.

 

[channelkat]

I shot one in Bots 30-06 11’
Shot one in Zambia 12g 10.5’
PH shot the one in camp Zim .375

Do most ph’s let you shoot? I got the impression mine wouldn’t let me harvest anything he didn’t specifically have a quota for..

 

[Rafiki]

Do most ph’s let you shoot? I got the impression mine wouldn’t let me harvest anything he didn’t specifically have a quota for..

My PH does not condone shooting just for shooting's sake; one of the reasons that I keep going back to him. The camp staff have killed Puff Adders in camp for obvious reasons.. Just last October they dispatched one in camp. Out hunting we've just given them a wide birth and everyone goes on their own way.

 

[Hyde Hunter]

April 2023 in Limpopo 2 Puff Adders about 6 inches from my foot then in April 2024 1 Puff Adder East Cape in the road, PH jumped out and killed it.

 

[channelkat]

I’d really like to harvest a mamba and/or a few other specimens. I’d definitely make something of the skins and be willing to to eat, so it wouldn’t be just killing for the sake of killing

 

[HookMeUpII]

0 Mamba
1 Puff Adder - Limpopo, May 2023

Accidentally ran it over with the truck while we were in a reserve.

 

[tigris115]

When I was in SA in 2011, I got this shot of one eating a chameleon. I felt like a camera man on a proper nature show.

 

[Field28]

Sounds like Tanzania is the place for them.

 

[Justbryan]

I wish this would have been a poll.
3 Trips to Limpopo and Kruger but 0 snakes of any kind. I am lucky!

I don't like spiders & snakes (Jim Stafford, 1974).

I wonder how many close calls I had and didn't know it.

 

[HookMeUpII]

I wish this would have been a poll.
3 Trips to Limpopo and Kruger but 0 snakes of any kind. I am lucky!

I don't like spiders & snakes (Jim Stafford, 1974).

I wonder how many close calls I had and didn't know it.

They are definitely there. My PH in Limpopo advised me to be really cautious on his personal property.

Quote his words "I am not saying this to frighten you but there are some really big and nasty black mambas on my property."

Pro-tip: If you see the birds going nuts in a tree (specifically the grey louries), don't take a leak on that tree. They are likely warning everything there is a mamba in the tree.

 

[DLSJR]

1983, Zimbabwe, Deka, Zero
1986, Zimbabwe, Charara, 1 Puff Adder
1989, Botswana, Kalahari & Linyanti Swamps, 2 puff adders, 2 black mambas including a 10 footer way too close (<5 feet away), 1 spitting cobra, 1 cobra I don’t recall species and one BFS (Big F*cking snake) but all we could tell is it was about 10-12’ long, couldn’t identify.
2009, South Africa, Limpopo, 1 mamba
2018, Zambia Kafue, Zero
2019, Tanzania Maswa, Zero
2021, Tanzania Mlele South, 1 black mamba and one very large Forest Cobra, about 7-8’ long
2023, Kenya, Mara North, Tsavo East & West, Zero
2023, Tanzania, Selous, 3 puff adders, 1 black mamba, 1 vine snake. We accidentally ran over one of the puffers and it popped like a balloon.
2024, Cameroon, Mayo Nduel & Vaimba, 1 night adder
2025, Zimbabwe, Vic Falls area, none so far after five days. Headed to Cawston tomorrow , then Savé Conservancy and hope to keep it at zero.

We don’t kill snakes unless there’s a good reason, like it’s around camp. Only snake I’ve killed in Africa was a cobra that I used for a rather cruel practical joke on PH Terry Palmer. Otherwise I admire them from a safe distance.

If anyone knows how to load a video, I have a pretty cool video of a large puff adder I can share.

 

[EPIC SAFARIS]

This is really interesting to me. seems like 0 or 1 is most common answer. Lots of puff adder sightings too. Generally sightings are in the hottest months and/or near or during the rainy season but not always the case.

I would add another pro tip:

Generally you want to walk directly behind your tracker and PH while out on a stalk or walkabout for lots of reasons and avoidance of stepping on or startling a snake is just one more good reason.

 

[Rare Breed]

1
South Africa(Waterberg Mtns)
October
Was crossing a trail and heading for the rocks.

one in Omay North Zim with D&Y crossing the road in front of us when we were in the cruiser

 

[Munnik]

As a South African hunter, I am constantly in forest and bush. During decades, I have never seen a black mamba in nature.

However, I had two not harmless encounters with black mambas - in a snake park in Hazyview. The door of a large enclosure was unlocked, in it was a large black mamba. Not far from it was a bucket with a lid, as I learned a little later, there was a black mamba in the bucket. The lid was not fixed, but just lay on. I don't know why the snake didn't just lift the lid. Even days later, the fright drove into my limbs when I thought about it.

What I saw from time to time: Puff otter and once an egyptian cobra and very often, the particularly dangerous cape cobra. I shot several of them on our farm - one right under the dining table.

 

[Letzhunt]

Limpopo SA 2024
2 black mambas in the road and 1 puff adder that my PH almost stepped right on. Thankfully I am a slow walker and wasn't on the PH's heals. Wife was with me and not too happy but what can you do. Very next day we crawled through the long grass for Kudu......honestly I wasn't really focused on Kudu!