'Snakes', he said, as the cobra twirled round his wrist, 'do not make unprovoked attacks. If you come across one, stand still and let it pass. If it's a rearing cobra or a black mamba, never try to run ... they'll beat you to it.' The cobra had left his wrist and was now winding its way up towards his armpit. 'Poisonous snakes don't always inject poison when they bite. It all depends on whether they think you're an enemy to be killed or just scared off. if they only want to frighten you, it'll hurt but you'll live.'

The snake snuggled into his armpit curling its tail over his shoulder, and he went on: 'Try and identify your snake, then you'll know how to treat the bite. If it strikes, then recoils, it's a puff -adder. If it hangs on and chews, it's a backfanged snake. If it coils up before it strikes, it's either a cobra or a black mamba.

'The symptoms of an adder or viper bite are severe pain and swelling and blood in the saliva, vomit and urine. A black mamba bite results in drooping eyelids, loss of control of the jaw and tongue, drooling and slurred speech, mental confusion and death. Boomslang symptoms are bleeding all over the body, under the skin.'

Then, with the head of the cobra now tucked into his ear, he explained what to do if we were bitten. 'Don't make out you're in the movies and try and suck out the poison. That way you'll only kill yourself. If you do have to suck, put a plastic bag between your lips and the poison. And never, never use a tourniquet. It used to be fashionable but even if you recover from the bite, the tourniquet will damage your foot or hand and almost certainly it will have to be amputated. If a cobra spits into your eyes it won't kill but it will ulcerate and make you permanently blind. Wash the eyes constantly with water. If you haven't got water, milk or tea, beer-even your own urine-will do.'

He than gave us a snake-bite kit of various antisnake-bite serums in tiny phials and a row of hypodermic syringes. He showed us how to fill the syringe from the phials by simply snapping off the plastic covers and inserting the needle through the rubber cap.

'Inject straight into the backside, one into each cheek, and don't be nervy about the needle, slap it in hard. Get yourself a chunk of steak and practise on it!' Thoroughly sickened and shaken by the entire briefing we paid him his fee and said our goodbyes. Then came his parting shot:

'Not the best time to start the trip of course. The incidence of snake bites is greatest in the summer and peaks at the beginning of the rainy season.' This, of course, was summer. It was also the beginning of the rainy season! Shell shocked, we drove away. I think it was another hour-and fifty miles-before we spoke again!