Fun with insects

The floor crunches in a sickening way when you walk on it.  It's ants.  One of the lodge staff said, "Yes, it is their time."

Last night a zillion flying termites made a swirling tornado around the lights.  It is mating season.  It was a tornado of lust.  Geckos on the wall happily crunched away at hapless termites who landed nearby.  One small lizard had four in his

mouth when he snapped up another one.

The worst, though, was the Tsetse flies.  Tsetse flies are basically horseflies.  But in Africa, they can carry sleeping sickness and Dengue fever.  Dengue is bad--it involves high fever, aches, and a miserable few weeks, possibly in a hospital.  Sleeping sickness causes the victim to become sluggish, eventually lapsing into a coma that ends in death.

  As we left Murchison, many students were sleepy after a game drive, boat ride and hike.  I asked if anyone had been bitten, and suggested that if you feel sleepy, you probably have the sickness.  And to be sure to wake up tomorrow after you go to bed. This was a lie, of course.  Not only does the disease take a while to incubate, the flies at Murchison are clean--no disease there.

It would have been funny, except that our van was being pursued by a squadron or two of these nasty bugs. They drafted behind the vehicle, and very time the van slowed, three or four buzzed in.  Liz and Tony were bitten.  Everyone else attacked the flies with frenzied swatting motions.  Our emergency forms turned out to be the ideal weapon.