I saw the biggest, baddest, grossest beetle today! It was at least 12 inches long! It had fallen into a hole the gardeners had dug yesterday, but did not get around to planting the bush yet. Not sure it is on their agenda for today, either...they seem to have a different agenda than do I. Anyways, I went out this morning, innocent, refreshed, and full of happiness and goodwill toward all and I peeked into the hole to see what exactly the dirt looked like under the sand (it looks just like more sand! amazing), and there was this monstrous beetle (at least 10 inches long). It had long pincher thingies that looked like they could easily hurt someone. (They can! I asked a gardener. He said, "You betcha, baby!" or something like that).
I screamed, as any good Dutch girl would do when faced with a beetle at least 8 inches long! Dave sauntered out of the house, as he is not running any more when I scream, and was actually quite impressed with my large beetle (who was at least 6 inches long). I checked with the two ladies here who have spent a lot of time in Africa and seen much more than I ever want to see, and they both had never seen a beetle of that size. Which, strangely enough, made me feel somewhat better, as apparently there are not a jillion of them around the Rafiki compound. Whew! Thank goodness for that.
The gardeners told me that it came from the "bush" (I am assuming they mean the jungly-type vegetation surrounding the Village, and not some specialty plant which actually grows such large, gross beetles!) and it was probably attracted to the light on our front porch. So you can be assured that I will not be answering a knock on my front door at night without first checking the peephole to may sure it is not a jumongous, big beetle.
Dave took a picture. Do not worry. No gardeners were injured in the taking of this picture! It was attacked by ants while stuck in the hole and the ants killed it. Man, I almost feel sorry for our 4-inch beetle, being attacked by ants like that. (O.K., not really sorry; it WAS a huge, disgusting, mean, nasty beetle, for Pete's sake!) and yes, it really, really was about 4-5 inches long!
That is the end of today's traumatic event. Tomorrow, I will tell you about the lion...(just kidding!)
