Durban - A Dutch tourist holidaying in Durban was lucky not to lose his sight when a venomous snake spat into his eyes at an uMhlanga lodge.
The 25-year-old tourist came face to face with a Mozambican spitting cobra after it had slipped unnoticed into his luggage and travelled with him from Phinda Private Game Reserve, north of Hluhluwe, in KwaZulu-Natal, where he and his family had holidayed.
On December 24, unaware of the stowaway, he was unpacking when the snake spat venom into his eyes.
Staff at Teremok Boutique Lodge responded to the family’s call for help and consulted a well-known snake catcher, Jason Arnold, who said the man must immediately wash his eyes with water.
According to the owner, Kim Davidson, they trapped the snake in the bag and waited for Arnold to arrive.
“We immediately went into the room to see what was going on. When I received a call from the guest saying there was a snake in the room, I thought it would be a brown house snake.
“First, we had to establish what snake it was before we could do anything. One of the staff members identified it as a Mozambican spitting cobra. With help, we were able to use a broomstick and a towel to trap the snake and then zip the bag up so it could not escape until Jason got to us,” said Davidson.
The venom is harmless when it lands on skin, but can cause impaired vision or blindness if it makes contact with the eye – luckily, the tourist escaped unscathed.
Arnold said the snake, which measured about 60cm in length, was a juvenile.
He said that it was unusual to find Mozambican spitting cobras in that particular part of uMhlanga so he was certain that the snake had travelled with the family from Phinda.
After the incident, Arnold confirmed that the snake had been taken to an area near the game reserve and released back into the wild, last week.
“The man was lucky to have not been bitten. The snake was at the top of the bag when he opened it and that’s why it spat. Had he put his hand in to grab something out of the bag, he could have been bitten, which would have been a lot worse.”
He said the snakes were one of the most common cobras around Durban and he often caught them in areas such as Westville, eMdloti, Reservoir Hills, Newlands, Prestondale and some parts of uMhlanga.
The cobra is one of the most dangerous in Africa.
The tourist, whose name is not known, could not be reached for comment. He returned to Holland last week.
Sunday Tribune
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