Yup, the arm had a strange ways of keeping us entertained and sharpening your senses was one of them. Sadly as you say Kaboon's are endangered due to man's greed and lust for killing animals instead of protecting them.
Humed and mosquito infested places are not on my to do list at any time, but I don't mind snakes. Lucky you never ended up on the receiving end of one of those, they have of the largest fangs in the snake kingdom.