Take your maps out and calculate this distance! From Beira Mozambique,passing through Chimoio up to Chipinge and Chimanimani,Zimbabwe.Its about 481 kilometers and would take you about 7 hours 15mins if you are using public transport right? Now imagine that the cyclone had disturbed and dispersed the daily normal of everything including crocodiles. People assume that acts such as pilgrimage belong to them but trust me nature has a funny way of miraculously resurfacing unprecedented horror at your own door step without even asking for an invite to get in! Crocodiles were all over the Dakate river amongst other tributaries and as bodies littered allover river banks and fields near the tributaries, crocodiles were unfortunately assured of their own version of the great last supper! There was no need of greed or hiding the kill. Nature had provided them with food served on the biggest platinum platter there is and for a meat-eater that can go over 2 years without food this was literally manna from heaven. Water around these villages had a red murky color that was a clear sign of the feeding frenzy of nature's greatest and strongest jaw's activities in the water.
Everything was a nightmare and the crocodiles didn't even need to perform the classic death roll to tear out chunks of decaying human flesh, a simple bite was enough for a mouth full without any force or energy used. As we walked scared to death but mostly shocked, we all knew what had to be done! We had to kill each and every last one of these man-eaters because once a creature like that develops a taste for human flesh then the reality of midnight knocks and zealous bedroom visits was possible. However we didn't have guns or proper crocodile traps to lure them in and kill them on land where they have weaknesses but we had walkie-talkies and the mighty gong! So we updated the our superiors and awaited the air strike to occur in an hour's time.Our job now,was to make sure no one alive was near the targeted zone and to set alight bush fires that would save as markers for the air strike to hit. At exactly 12pm, we witnessed first hand what a fully equipped army and fighter helicopter can do! In slow motion,it seemed like someone was picking little lizards up and turning them upside down just to see them try to wiggle their way back to normal body postures but in reality the rain of the heavy gun artillery had enough force to splash you with crocodile mince meat!
One by one the crocodiles died and everytime we saw them take their last breath we sang praises to the screaming"iron birds"that were sending death shots to their evil hearts! The air strike was done in less than 10 minutes and all that was left was a distant memory of a domain that used to be feared extremely! As we finally got inside the bloody river to remove our fallen l noticed that one of the crocodiles had fatal wounds but wasn't dead yet. It kept on hissing and hitting the water with its tail to intimidate and warn us to back of out of its territory but it had picked the wrong day to be a king of the swamps! You see this crocodile had a blood stained piece of a "Chelsea United" football team t-shirt on its jaws and l knew it because it was a fake t-shirt that my wife had made for my eldest son! The badge was custom-made with iron and this made my boy feel special everytime he wore it because he knew his soccer playing kit was unique from everyone else. I don't know if crocodiles killed and ate my family or if the cyclone swept them away but what l knew was that the badge that was stuck on that reptile's jaws was a piece of my kid's shirt! In that moment, the cold water felt like a boiling spring and my body trembled with fury but before l could even move to deal with it personally with the two machetes l had on my hands. The army guys, had already pumped it to death with live rounds of their AK47s but to me it didn't matter. I had to have my fair share of the kill,so l began my revenge on the dead crocodile as l cut it into pieces like a possessed man! People stood there watching in shock and some in envy as they eventually joined me and l tell you,if the rivers were red with blood before then now they were dark with vengeance! The cyclone had broken me but my family's death finished me. I knew that if l didn't get counseling fast then l was going to be a means to an end to myself!