A Detour into a Tropical (African) Night

                                Tropical Night

So today, we'll take a break from our journey through the dry southwest of South Africa and make a little detour—nearly 2,000 kilometers away—to a tropical night in mid-March on the shores of the Indian Ocean.
A place overflowing with moisture in the heart of summer. A kind of delirium tropicum.
This was written back in 2004, on the eastern coast of South Africa, near the St Lucia wetlands.

Advantages (A) and Disadvantages (D) of a Tropical African Night

as Seen Through European Eyes

(A) Before bed, sitting down with friends with a glass of wine to relive the day's adventures — 

like the time three rhinos charged at our car on a dusty road,

or when a mother elephant taught her baby how to trumpet and spray water from a puddle all around… including on us. 

(D) Before going to bed, you must not forget to close the veranda door to the dining room — otherwise, the monkeys will eat all the bananas from the fruit bowl (like they did yesterday).

                                     Splashing Lesson is Over

                              Surprise Around the Bend

                                              Tropical Awakening

(D) Your hair never dries after a shower.
(A) It doesn't matter — because if it did, it would just get soaked with sweat again anyway.

(A) A bedroom doesn't really need 2 to 4 walls.
(D) But it does need to be inside a fenced area to keep out predators.

(A) You don't need a nightgown.
(D) You do need a mosquito net over your bed.

(A) You're constantly reminded you're not alone in the world — there are countless living creatures all around, you hear their sound all night long.
(D) Among those living creatures is the Anopheles mosquito.

(A) Mosquitoes in Africa will only bite you three times — after that, they apparently find you repulsive.
(D) The suspicion remains that this fact may not be entirely accurate… maybe I just dreamed it last night.