Bernard Mizeki College, the school at which we taught in the years 1967 to 1970, was located in the deep bush of what was then Rhodesia and, with some 4,000 acres of ground, was a paradise for anyone interested in the country's natural wonders, so we were incredibly fortunate that we could buy a trio of books which offered us an introduction to them.
In those days I wrote in every book I bought or was given so we know we bought them very early in our stay. The three books varied in how good they were. The one on birds, insects and snakes is a good example.
The snake section was excellent with colour photographs of all the country's snakes and....
....detailed descriptions of each, as well as a very full introduction to the various families and to their dangers. One of the more common snakes which came into the college grounds was the Egyptian cobra which, when fully grown to about seven foot long, was both a beautiful and frightening beast. Sadly, over my years there, I shot and number of cobras which had strayed into places where they threatened the students.
The bird section was also good, though some of the photos were disappointing. The biggest problem with this was that it couldn't hope to cover the wealth of bird life in the country.
This was even more true of the insect section, which also lacked colour pictures - and Rhodesia boasted some spectacular butterflies. It didn't stand a chance of covering the country's myriad insect life, concentrating on a few of the most common insects. This one was one of the largest, a poor flier commonly called a 'sausage fly'. Some of the students would catch them, even during 'prep' in the evenings when they were supposed to be doing their 'homework', tear off the front part and eat the sausage. I wasn't tempted to try it even though I was assured it was very tasty.
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