Black Mamba, Limpopo-Lipadi, Botswana

Talked about often around bushveld camp fires, and in first aid courses, but not often seen ! After many visits and work in southern African game reserves, this is the first I have seen in the wild. The snake crossed the dirt road in front of the game drive vehicle, went through the game fence and up into a tree outside the reserve. With it's flared neck, the snake is upset with our presence, but the photo is misleading. It is a significantly cropped image from a 500mm telephoto lens image. We did not get to see the black mouth diagnostic for the species, but the "coffin shaped" head seemed to confirm the identification. The snake was probably close to 2m long.