Joshua Marikopo

 Its been a full week and a day out here in the wild and boy the heavens turned its back on me when I forgot to pack my insect repellent. Inside the Reserve there are wild animals and these are perfect hosts for ticks and other parasites. These do get to infest the grass and other vegetation in the park waiting for a fresh host. I have  been going on drives and walks in the tall grass since my first day here and that was the commencement of my torture. Resident guides say that I'm being bitten by paper ticks, other experts say sand flies. To date I've removed 3 ticks which had been happily sucking my blood. This gave me the creeps. The first aid for safely removing ticks is not to grab them by your nails, but scrap them off with something sharp (in my instance a pocket knife) at a 45° angle. The itch is another case by itself. I've been driven to insanity by scratching my skin till it bleeds to get some relief. I've tried applying colgate,meth spirit and banana peels bu...

 So today was kinda cool. It had been years without seeing any kind of the infamous reptile. A snake. Am not Voldemort who dearly loves snake, but I am fascinated by them and respect then. Anyway, today I was able to handle one which was captured by a guide yesterday at this safari area i mentioned in my last article. He kept it overnight at his place so that we could get to study it together.  It's totally safe to say, snakes are really cool. I don't even understand why we hate these creatures. The snake that we got was a herald snake. Below is a bit of information about it copied from African Snakebite Institute webpage. I'll also include the link Herald or Red-lipped Snake Full Name: Herald or Red-lipped Snake ( Crotaphopeltis hotamboeia ) Other Names: Rooilip of Heraldslang Classification:  MILDLY VENOMOUS Map indicating the distribution of the Herald Snake in Southern Africa. A nocturnal snake that frequents suburban gardens, especially those with water features. It ...

 Heyah readers! A merry Christmas to you all. It had been close to a month without anything new. Well, the thing is I am also an environmentalist, so, I got  work opportunity on a Safari camp this whole of December! Exciting stuff (except for the ticks and other stuff biting my city skin everyday). So at this safari - I've been meeting all sorts of people and taking them on guided walks and drives. It is great meeting and learning from all sorts of people. The interesting bit is observing different characters of people, this learning experience is crucial because we normally spend time with people we know rather than te ones we dont. Anyway, back to the bush. Am at a place 80km away from Harare, 3000ha of untainted bush. In there are all sorts of creepy creatures anyone can expect to find in the African wild, plenty of snakes and other stuff. The main feature of the place are the animals: elephant, lion, buffalo (3 of the big 5), black backed jackal, warthog, blue wildebeest, ...

Today i was in Harare gardens for the already mentioned event.  Watch my video on Twitter as i speak about what activism against gender based violence mean to us as community members.. 👇 https://twitter.com/SAYWHATOrg/status/1598290129269174273?t=-tUSSkJtfGcXTnpJVQw8bg&s=19   #endchildmarriages #EndGBV