In old maps – some back to the 4th century BC, in unexplored regions there would often be the words, “Here be monsters” or “Here there be dragons”! We’ve found that Togo, on the western coast of Africa, is no exception.

The sluggard may say, “There is a lion outside” ((Prov 22:13) and as previously noted, we just missed the Lion In Lome by just a few days), but there are far worse things lurking out there.

First there be dragons!

There is a dark grayish brown lizard with a pale yellow head running around down here. Clearly a direct descendant of the great “thunder lizards” of eras gone by. These things are fast. They can run across a vertical surface (wall) as easily as the ground and leap a distance roughly equal to twice the length of the space between where they are and where you are. Not quite the length of an alligator, but exceedingly and abundantly larger than the Florida chameleon that we are used to tormenting the tourists with (however, it should be noted that the geckos that share the guest cottage with us are nearly identical to the leopard geckos that run around my home). So far our encounters have thankfully been at a great distance. Much like many others we have encountered on our travels, they seem to have an aversion to Americans. They watch from piles of rocks, walls and sometimes bushes and disappear as we approach. Especially if we have a camera.

Then there be monsters!

I wasn’t kidding about the killer bees (see previous post). We had some guys at the house in bee suits smoking them out of the attic and removing the nest. These monsters are deceptively small. They are half the size of the honeybees at home (unfortunately, they use their diminutive size as a weapon – after all, everyone loves miniatures!). The bees weaponize this tendency to think small things are cute to lull you into a sense of complacency or worse curiosity…

And then the swarm!

We watched for a couple hours (from inside a dark, screened porch(apparently they are attracted to light) as the guys in the white bee suits smoked and ripped and swatted and furiously battled the hoards of loudly protesting bees. When we went to bed, they were still locked in fierce battle. We only found a few bee carcasses (a couple of them inside the house!) and the bees are still swarming around the corner of the house, so I will search the grounds later for where the bees may have buried the bodies. Clearly they were the victors!

Here There Be REAL Monsters

The REAL monsters to look out for are the most insidiously sneaky. They lurk in the most unsuspecting places and seem to have the power of invisibility. You never see them coming until they attack suddenly, viciously without any provocation or warning. Laura was the first to succumb – fever, chills, stomach cramps… Something she ate? Some novel exposure on the airplane? Is it in the water she used when she brushed her teeth? These creatures are absolutely diabolical! Worse than our flesh-eating bacteria!!

Not to worry. Our bags have arrived (they are at the airport in Lome at least)! Well equipped with her Farmacy arsenal, I have no doubt she will be able to vanquish the brutes!