Beasts of Bormase

Since moving to my site, I've thoroughly enjoyed observing my surroundings. I moved here worried about mosquitos and snakes but hadn't thought of how many other animals/insects I would encounter.

I have had to train my eyes to actually follow butterflies as they pass me. I read in a guidebook that Ghana is known for having a beautiful array of butterflies. It took me a while to see one fly by and actually take the time to stop what I'm doing and look at what has flown by. I won't deny that monarchs are beautiful but some of the butterflies that float around my site are really stunning. Some are HUGE too.

400 chickens, 8 Grasscutters and 4 rabbits live in their respective enclosures at the Nartey house and aside from making noise, they seldom cause problems. I will admit that chickens are far more ruthless than I had ever imagined. I'm not sure if it's a lack of protein in their diet or what but if an egg is cracked to the point that even a slight amount of liquid escapes, any chicken within range will lunch and battle for any bit of yolk, membrane or shell they can get. These chickens also bully each other. When collecting eggs, I'll notice that some chickens have no leaves on or around their head. Even when laying an egg, other chickens will sit there and peck away at the head of their coopmate. I know almost nothing about the reason behind these attackes but they are ruthless. A few chickens have died since I've been here and one was partially eaten by its neighbors by the time it was found in the morning.

The two kittens at site are now old enough to play/fight with Kua and the goat Pusher. Pusher is still very skinny and playful but quite large enough to do serious damage to either kitten when he butts his head at a playful kitten. Pusher walks around with about 10 feet of rope tied to his neck. Normally he roams free but when it's time to comfine him, it's easier when the rope is already tied around his neck. Kua loves to play tug of war and pull on any rope that you dangle in front of her. Try to picture a puppy pulling at a rope while it's attached to the neck of a goat. The goat obviously gets annoyed when being pulled around by a dog so the back and forth battle can go on for a while. Very amusing.

Having been at site for nearly 3 months with more sweat problems than mosquito problems, I will occasionally sleep outiside my mosquito net in order to get some more fresh air. I have yet to have any run ins with mosquitos but two nights ago while in a dreamy state, I touched what felt like a creepy crawly on my head and found a 3 inch cockroach making its way from my pillow into my hair. I spiked the thing to the ground hard enough to kill it and fell asleep shortly thereafter. Malaria medecine gives some pretty vivid dreams so sometimes it's hard to know what is part of your dream and what is part of the actual African scenery in which I live (frogs, lizards, wasps are common in my room). I woke up a few weeks ago thinking that I was laying on a piece of glass. I rubbed my bed and found no glass so layed back down only to feel MORE glass! I turned on the light and found 5 large welts on my back a TINY ant on my sheet. This ant was maybe 2/3 the size of a flea but it sure packed a punch. I couldn't sleep for nearly an hour.

I have twice been present while Emmanuel has harvested honey. The first time, I stood within 5 feet of thousands of buzzing bees while wearing nothing but shorts and a t-shirt. I was assured that since it was night and I wasn't bothering them, I could observe without any problems. I made it through that first experience with no stings and no honey (we had to wait to harvest). On Tuesday, Emmanuel brought several honeycombs back to the house. He showed me how to extract honey from the combs and gave me some of the best tasting honey I've ever tasted. While discussing beekeeping and some other topics, I laid my hand on my lap and got my first sting. The tip of my middle finger is still swollen but it was well worth it!

Below are pictures from some of my food prep and shopping experiences here. No freezers full of boneless chicken breast here! (Go Niners!)