The Eviction

It was rather a shock when I realised we are in the 3^rd quarter of the year. My mother once said to me “The older you get, the faster time goes!” and needless to say, I did not really believe her. Now I know what she was talking about and I suppose that just means that you should make the most of your available time.

Roger had a 5-day off period coming up so the immediate decision was to go to Marloth Park again. This time we planned to just relax; although painting some furniture translates into ‘relax’ for me.

We took a leisurely drive on Saturday, 7^th October and stopped for brunch at Fego Caffé at the Shell Ultra City just outside of Middelburg. It was still light when we arrived at our house in Marloth Park. Being October it was of course also extremely hot but the trusty yr.no weather forecast site promised rain over the next few days so we were hopeful.

Sunday was spent painting some items from the 3^rd bedroom and just generally sorting things out to my liking. I am a bit of a pain that way, as I am sure those who know me well will now be nodding their heads in agreement.

During the afternoon we heard Scaly, our rock monitor (leguaan), laboriously moving about in the roof. When it gets this hot he always moves to a spot above the braai chimney, where there is a bit of airflow, in an attempt to cool down.

As much as we liked the idea of him being in the roof, where he had been for many years, Roger was always worried that he would eventually grow too big and fall through the ceiling. In fact, we were under the impression that he could no longer get into the roof as we did not detect any sign of his presence during our January visit.

About a year ago Etienne was planning to stay at the house but when he arrived he decided to find someplace else because there was such a stench. Our immediate thought was that Scaly had died up there so Roger asked Don, from our trusty Maroela Cleaning Services, to deal with it. Don got workers to lift the roof sheets but besides a lot of guano there was no sign of a live or dead monitor. They then bricked up and sealed the two apex openings of the roof, dusted their hands and thought that was that. Or so it seemed…

It turned out that the stench was due to a rather large rock python which was moulting in our indoor braai area. He was discovered shortly afterwards by our guests Richard and Annelia who were staying at the house for a few days. Fortunately, they handled the situation without fuss by contacting the local ‘snake catcher/rescuer’.

The day was overcast and thankfully it started raining in the late afternoon. I could just feel the veld heave a sigh of relief. The coolness made for a good night’s sleep.

We were up at 4h30 on Monday morning and after a cup of coffee we entered Kruger National Park via the Crocodile Bridge gate a half hour after the gate opened for day visitors. It was still overcast, and drizzling occasionally; blissfully cool.

It was dusk when we arrived back from a most enjoyable day in the Park. The first thing we normally do is to open all the doors and windows, which of course have to be closed when we are not home lest the baboons or monkeys decide to pay a visit.

Suddenly Roger called from the side of the house: “Scaly is heading this way. We must stop him from going back into the roof. Now is our chance!” I hurried to close the door lest he slipped in there.

We could now finally figure out how he still managed to get into the roof. He climbs up the wall on the outside, then down the chimney and up the wall on the inside of the house where he slips into the gap in the ceiling planks!

Roger: “You have to fend him off with something while I go to Don to fetch a ladder.”

“NO, that will take too long! There is no way I will manage until you get back. Make another plan!”

So, he positioned the bakkie under the eave, climbed up on to the roof from there and was just in time to see Scaly disappear down the chimney.

He shouted “He is coming down, stop him!”.

I grabbed an expanded metal braai grid to block the way but somehow could not see him, so I moved my upper body into the braai space and looked up to see where he was. I gave an almighty yell when I saw him coming down, about to drop onto my back. My yell made Roger scurry down from the roof in order to assist and we got him to go back up the chimney again.

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“I am going back up. I need to cover the top of the chimney. You keep him at bay with the broom if he tries to come down again.”

The broom worked quite well but then he decided on a different approach. Instead of coming down the chimney he now went down the side of the house and attempted to slide through a hole in the chicken mesh of the door. He was hissing and spitting at me while I pushed him away with the broom. Much to my embarrassment, I was screeching like a real girl.

And then he suddenly backed off, took to his heels and ran towards the river with great speed, head held high. He didn’t look back and we never saw him again. It occurred to me that it was a ‘territorial’ fight and that he had accepted defeat.

The light was fading fast so Roger wasted no time in making a ‘MacGyver’ plan. He took two old braai grids, lashed them together with cable ties and covered the top of the chimney to prevent Scaly, or anything else for that matter, from getting in via that route.

 

Once everything had calmed down and we sat at the braai fire later that evening we had mixed feelings; happy that the problem was solved but also sad that it had to be that way. He did after all keep the house free of rodents and other nasties. I couldn’t help feeling sorry for him out there, all alone in the dark…

Tuesday we just chilled, watched birds, read our books, went for a walk and just enjoyed our own surroundings.

As always, the days passed all too quickly and on Wednesday we had to head back home again. One thing is for certain though, Marloth Park visits are never dull…