Eye for an eye
by Ethan Lee
July 11, 2005

I wish there was more to say than ‘Everything was fine today, fine as can be, right as rain.’ But that would be a great injustice to those that live here. The ever present poor farming communities around us remind me of only the worst cases I have seen in mainland China.

Matched by their need for monetary aid is the people’s friendliness to foreigners and the diversity of wildlife in the area in which they live. Just today, on the way back from trap checking, we walked on the side of the road, only to be met by a large group of indigenous who each yelled a friendly ‘SALAMA!’ What was ironic was that these people yelled hi, while a group on truck almost ran us over, missing us by a foot. The roads around these parts are prone to road rage as there are no traffic signs or any means to tell the drivers of cars to ‘slow down’. On our way back, my non-observant eyes spotted 2 types of lemur, 4 kinds of butterflies, more birds that I can count, and four 300-year-old baobab trees.

Speaking of plants, the foliage around here is definitely a bother. When I was preparing for this trip, I spotted a good deal on a small sharp machete. I thought I didn’t need it, boy was I wrong. On the first day I was introduced to a crocodile tree, a tree covered in hard pointed spikes, I believe I have encountered a few crocodile vines in my savanna walks. Not a minute passes that I look at my scratched and itching arms, and not want to return the favor to the plants.

That reminds me of a previous dispatch about swatting flies. This person thought, as he hesitated in his effort to ward them off, that the one he is about to swat may contain the cure for AIDS or some other disease. Judging by the sheer mass of flies, thorny foliage, and numerous other nuances, I would say that it would do justice that for every discomfort we receive, we return to the malefactor. So far, the ‘eye for an eye’ philosophy works for me.