Bugged!

The rains came and brought the insects with them. We spent the day in Livingstone on Monday. When we arrived home that night at 7:00, the back veranda resembled a scene from a B-grade horror movie. There were swarms of flying termites as thick as clouds around our back window. David went bravely through them swinging his arms to get the windows closed. Many of the critters managed to get in the house before we could stop them and were crawling all over on the floor. The cat considers all insects to be dinner with wings and was having a field day pouncing and eating. We killed as many as we could but were fighting a losing battle. We figured out that they were attracted by light, so we gave up and went to bed.

The next morning we found a half-inch layer of separated bodies and wings on the veranda floor. Later that day a friend explained that after the first rains the termites engage in these mating flights. They swarm, they mate, and then they die.

Obrien, a young man who works for us, scooped up the bodies and fried them in a coffee can over an open fire. He was eating them like popcorn. David believes in trying things at least once, so he ate a handful, too, and announced that they tasted a lot like smoke-flavored Bacon Bits. He didn’t go back for seconds, however.

The Zambians compare this delicacy to manna, because on the morning after the rain the insects are all over on the ground and porches. This “manna” disappeared after the first day, though, and for that we are grateful!