Lions, and Tigers, and Bedbugs... Oh my!

11 February 2007

I had to write one entry just about the animals I’ve come across here. Something short and sweet is the plan; we’ll see how that goes.

The most noteworthy animals I’ve seen, and also the ones I’ve seen the most are baboons. They are apparently very annoying, although I should give them credit for their bravery. A couple of weekends ago when I went to Windhoek (the capital city) for a tennis tournament that 10 of our kids were playing in, we encountered several on the road both there and back. On the way there, it was pretty sweet to check them out on the side of the road, making faces at them and whatnot. However, on the drive back, while I was trying not to kill 14 people on a two-lane “freeway”, driving on the left hand side of the road at 70 MPH, I had the pleasure of playing chicken with some of the biggest monkeys I’ve ever seen. I’m not going to lie, a smile came to my face each time they realized they didn’t stand a chance against a Toyota van careening straight at them, and turned tail to run—at which point their hairless asses are exposed and they are truly beaten. Some might say they were getting revenge by mooning a school van (like any self-respecting teenage boy has done), but I’m not buying it. It was more like being beaten at a 5th grade game of butt-ball and having the face the wall in shame at your defeat. Too bad there wasn’t a ball around.

Next we’ve got ostriches. They are weird looking animals. I only mention them because they’re somewhat exotic and I’ve seen them run alongside the road next to me. Once again, animal vs. the man-machine team; guess who won?

I lied earlier when I said more baboons had crossed my path than anything else. I forgot about springboks. They’re pretty rad, but having seen thousands of deer in my life I’m less impressed with them. Their miniature counterparts from Dhamraland, the Dhamra dik-diks, are the cutest things I’ve come across so far. They are like miniature deer—and I’m talking 2 feet tall miniature—that always travel in pairs. I want to get a couple as pets.

Last, and my least favorite I’ll mention, are bedbugs. I have come to despise the phrase, “Sleep tight, don’t let the bedbugs bite!” said with cheerful glee. I think anyone who has ever been woken up by a little prick followed by 10-12 minutes of irritating burning—during which you can only dream of finding the little punk that bit you and exacting an equally annoying revenge upon his/her little exoskeleton—can agree that few things are more detrimental to a good night’s sleep. I probably should have spent the last day and a half bombing my mattress with toxic fumes instead of lying on the coach in sweats watching The Family Guy, but then I wouldn’t have anything to complain about I guess.

That’s all of my critter stories for now. I’m sure there will be more. I keep seeing pictures of elephants, rhinos and lions; hopefully I won’t encounter any of them on the road, though.