Viazi the dog had a lucky escape from a baboon

Viazi is a Samburu mongrel bitch with a curly tail. She is one of the most delightful, wonderful creatures I’ve known in my life. Her energy is boundless, she is always cheery and she’s been my great friend. When our collie Sasi had her litter of puppies in a heavy thunderstorm on the farm before the pandemic, we assumed Jock the labrador was the father. It later became evident that Sasi had been jumped by a roving Samburu cattle dog. We found homes for all of the puppies except for this little girl, who was as brown and as round as a baked potato – so we named her Viazi, which in Swahili means ‘potatoes’. I suppose our son Rider loved Jock the most, Claire and our daughter Eve loved Sasi, and I was left with Viazi to love.

It has been an adventurous life for her. On our very long walks across the farm, the dogs always have an antelope, African hare or flock of guinea fowl to chase after. Sasi used to go like a bullet, but as she has grown older, Viazi has taken over as the one who leads out in front. We have been lax in our training and cannot stop them when we encounter a herd of plains zebra, which buck and kick their hind legs out as Viazi barks at their tails.

Several times we have had run-ins with snakes, including the Ashe’s large brown cobra, the largest of all the spitting cobras. These can be 10ft long and they have a habit of slithering into the house on hot dry days.

I’ve seen a neighbour’s dog blinded by cobra venom, but ours have miraculously managed to dodge the flying spit and the serpents end up either dead or in flight from the barking pack.