Memoirs of a Worker

Termite Clouds and Flying Foxes

This Wattpad journey has been very rewarding to me. I appreciate the chance to relate my experiences and give some of you the chance to visit places in the world that are not at the top of your lists.

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When I fly, I get a kick out of sitting by a window, and not a window that is on top of the wing. I get great satisfaction surveying the landscape, the immensity of space and the beautiful colors and patterns of the clouds. On one of my trips through Africa, I had my face more or less glued to the window when Mark, one of the men I worked with, inquired, “Why are you always looking out the window?”

“I want to see where we’re going, and I would like to see some animals.”

“That’ll never happen. I’ve been flying all over Africa and have never seen a thing.” He spoke with an air of superiority, which kind of bugged me. How could he see any animals? He always sat in the middle seat or on the aisle and slept.

We were flying low into Dira Dawa, Ethiopia and I turned back and glanced out the window. To my surprise, I spotted a huge group of giraffes and camels.

“Hey Mark, check this out. There’s a herd of giraffes down there!” I shouted.

It was a bit rewarding actually, to point that out to Mark. Even though that only happened once, I still sit by a window every chance I get when I fly, just in case I might see something like that again.

When I remodeled US embassies, Chad was the first African country that I worked in. Of course I had heard about third world countries, but never actually experienced any, until I came to Chad. Ndjamena, the capital, is on the fringe of the Sahara desert. Like a major portion of Africa, Chad was a former French colony beginning in 1893. Over the years, the French had built some beautiful homes and businesses there with wonderful tree-lined streets, and put in a good infrastructure . . . for them.

When I was there, (which seems like yesterday but in fact it was several years ago) for the most part the local people lived in squalor on the outskirts of N’djamena, and it was disconcerting. Baked mud, mixed with cattle dung, made up the walls of most of the houses. A single community water hydrant was the only potable water for hundreds of families. It was unusual to see electricity in any of the mud dwellings, and when there was electricity, it would be a single, bare light bulb. These shelters had no doors and no windows. Occasionally, a piece of fabric would cover a door and window openings.

There were a lot of people crowded on the dusty, narrow road which made us slow to almost a stop. The abject poverty was hard to witness, especially when compared to the way the French and the US diplomats lived. I glanced about and could see the insides of several of these abodes. The thing that stuck out in my mind was not the fact that the insides were bleak with furnishings, but in most of the houses, I could see something of beauty inside. There were a couple of residences that stand out in my mind. One had a beautiful, bright, red colored vase sitting on a rough, bare table with a single flower in it. In another home, I saw a large copper kettle that glistened. That’s hard to do, especially when all your cooking is over an open fire.

The toilet facilities for this community were extremely primitive. The toilet area was a pond of about two acres in size, adjacent to where they lived. There was no privacy, no trees, no fences and no sanitation for anyone. When people needed to use the toilet, they waded out in the pond about knee deep and did their duty. It was common to see dozens of people using the facilities at a time, men, women and children! The stench was overwhelming.

After witnessing how these people lived, I realized I had lived a sheltered life. I had no idea that people in the 1990’s lived like that.

On the other hand, we were fortunate to lodge in a modern hotel located on the banks of the Chari River, that was complete with showers and toilets and nice restaurants. In the evenings after work, I often sat on the deck which overlooked the River (and the country of Cameroon on the opposite bank) and would watch the hippos romp about in the water.

One day, during lunch time, there was a distinctive feel in the air. The local people kept glancing at the sky and I could hear excitement in their voices as they spoke. In the early afternoon, clouds moved in and the sun dimmed. With clouds you might expect rain, but these were clouds of flying termites that shaded the sun! To the glee of the local people, the termites started gently falling to the earth, like huge snowflakes in a lazy snowstorm.

Folks were excited and ran around with their mouths open and would catch the termites like you would a giant snowflake! They would pull the white wings off, eat the dark termite and then run around again repeating the same ordeal. It wasn’t just kids doing this, but people of all ages and sizes, hundreds of people! I was shocked, but later learned they were a delicious, special treat. I took their word on that!  

To the north of N’djamena lies Lake Chad. It is a large fresh water lake that is very shallow and the water level fluctuates drastically depending on the yearly rains. Several varieties of wildlife and numerous bird species abound there.

Past Lake Chad is the ever looming, ever encroaching Sahara Desert. The vast savanna on the edge of the desert is speckled with Acacia trees, low lying shrubs and wandering animals.

One evening after work, I chose to eat my meal out by the hotel swimming pool. The heat of the day was gone and the evening was still and pleasant. To the north, I was entertained as I watched a tremendous electric storm rumble across the plain. Dozens of lightning bolts were striking simultaneously, every second, and the thunderheads billowy clouds were illuminated in shades of white, orange and amber. Under the clouds, the Acacia trees would be highlighted with each flash. I had never witnessed such massive amounts of lightning like this before. I was impressed but also content to view the storm from a safe distance.

Calmness filled the air that evening at the hotel pool, and it was magical. I glimpsed a movement out of the corner of my eye and as I turned, what looked like flying foxes came swooping through the air in all directions. These were fruit bats and they have wing spans close to three feet!

Then an unexpected thing occurred. Dozens of the bats flew just over the pool and would bend their heads and lap up water as they skimmed the surface. When they had their fill of water, the bats congregated in a large mango tree and devoured the fruit. It was a mesmerizing evening that left a deep impression in my mind.

I guess one of the things I’ve been appreciative of, is the ability to find beauty in all the places I’ve been to. Sub-Saharan Africa can be bleak and foreboding, yet magnificence abounds if a person takes time to search it out.

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This Wattpad journey has been very rewarding to me. I appreciate the chance to relate my experiences and give some of you the chance to visit places in the world that are not at the top of your lists.