scotcan

I will be spending 3 weeks in South Africa next June/July: one week in Kruger, one in Cape Town and a week travelling in between. My question is, how likely is it that I will actually see a snake? Friends (who know how phobic I am about them!) say it is very unlikely but I'm not sure I believe them.

ArthurSA

What's a snake?

bigcountry

scotcan,
bc u will be travelling in the middle of the winter in SA, it would be unlikely to see any snakes. could you, yes, but not very likely. dont let it worry u.

Someguy

Theres lots of snake in south africa... but not in the winter.... and there not very dangerous from afar..

tashak

Even in Botswana (much more wild, less developed than SA) it is rare to see a snake. I was told that seeing a snake (specifically a python) was considered extremely good luck. That should give you some idea of how likely it is that you will see one. And remember, if you see one in Kruger, you will be in a vehicle... and the snake will be trying to get away from the vehicle as fast as possible. I was told that they pick up the vibrations of approachng vehicles and disappear...

ArthurSA

My apologies for my flippant and perhaps inane remark! What I was trying to say is that the likelihood is extremely low, unless you are walking in the bush.

Although I don't have a lot of bush experience, I've done a lot of hiking in the Drakensberg mountains (mostly in my distant youth) and I only saw a small "berg adder" a handful of times over many years. And never in Cape Town, even when I climbed on Table Nountain.

ArthurSA

I meant to add that there was another recent thread on this topic, at http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34516997

scotcan

Thanks for the reassuring replies! I understand that June/July isn't the best time to visit S.A. (although I now see it as a bonus if it cuts down on the snakes!) but I don't really have a choice.

Any sights of particular interest between Johannesburg and Cape Town?

Kavey

We were in South Africa and Botswana in May/ June this year.

Didn't see any snakes at all in SA in May/ early June.

In Bots we came across one huge but very sluggish python (from the safety of our vehicle) and a couple of tiny sand snakes near camp.