Our Micato guide Steve Lake hates rats. His grandfather scarred him for life by telling him how the rats nibbled on their toes in the trenches of WWII. Now he won’t sleep without at least a sheet over him, no foot hanging out of the bed to control temperature, no way, no how.

He also mentioned if there is a rat to be found anywhere, he would be the one to find it. Most of us aren’t fond of them, especially in the New York subways when they’re dragging a pizza across the platform. But in the wild I have to give them a pass, they live here, too.

Did I mention it was cold in Botswana? On one of our game drives we were bundled into the 2 rows in back of the driver and our guide Steve with lovely fleece blankets and bush babies (hot water bottles) while looking for wildlife. The front seats had the luxury of the heater, which was on full blast.

All of a sudden we heard Steve Lake scream like an eleven-year-old girl. Something had dropped on his foot (probably having hidden under the dash and was now severely overheated), ran up his leg, up his chest and then jumped off his shoulder into the bush. But it wasn’t a rat, it was a squirrel. One of the other guides said it was probably going for his nuts.

Needless to say, the rest of us were laughing hysterically. Mark asked A.I. to produce a picture of Steve and the squirrel.

African squirrels are much smaller than ours, and very cute. The picture looks more like one of the little idiots I have living in my back yard – squirrels, not Steves.

We needed to commemorate this happening, as we certainly didn’t let him forget it for the rest of the trip. So, we bought him a copy of ‘Scaredy Squirrel Goes Camping’, a children’s book from the ‘Scaredy Squirrel’ series by Melanie Watt. We wrote a note and all signed it to commemorate the occasion. And presented it to him in front of his lovely wife, Sharon.

“The brave man is not the one who has no fears, he is the one who triumphs over his fears.” – Nelson Mandela

Well, I think Steve triumphed over the squirrel, now he has to conquer the rat.

Deborah

 

 

Next up – A conversation with Christo Brand, author of ‘Doing Life with Mandela, My Prisoner, My Friend‘