We don't like termites or snakes

It was a long day but we have managed to appoint two strong candidates as teachers in our Agriculture College next year. The day got off to a good start as the candidates arrived on time, (a minor miracle in itself given the state of the roads and public transport). The interviews were conducted ‘mzungu’ style, (hence the long day), and the interviewees responded with enthusiasm. The tour around the farm was a success. Our crops are growing well. The cobs of corn are “admirable” according to Duncan, our farm manager. This is high praise indeed as Duncan is a master of the understatement. The cobs on many of the maize plants are actually huge, and still have some growing to do. Our interviewees appreciated the vision that we have for farm productivity and experimentation and we are looking forward to their input into the work. Finding two teachers at this point is a great relief and makes the next stages of planning easier in many respects. Working on the principle that three heads are better than one I am hoping that our newest members of staff will ease the burden of leadership and will fire up the students with enthusiasm next year.

It promises to be an interesting evening. I’ve just taken a short break from blogging to investigate a couple of wildlife problems over in the house Ian and Hilda are staying in. We have noticed an increase in termite activity around the house over the last week and had been planning to get something lethal to treat them with next time we are in Oyugis. For such small insects termites are incredibly destructive. They have now excavated a hole about a couple of inches wide next to the front porch of the house and, even more worryingly, have started to emerge in the small space between the living room and kitchen through a crack in the floor. This means there is a termite tunnel under the house! We must act quickly.

The termite problem also alerted us to another wildlife issue. Whilst looking for evidence of termite activity outside the front of the house Ian and Hilda spotted a baby black mamba – a small version of a somewhat dangerous snake that is native to this part of Africa. Leonard, one of our security guards quickly killed it with an axe, (which he has now armed himself with for the rest of the night). It would be a bit more of a problem dealing with mummy mamba. I suspect we will be praying especially hard for the next few nights. (It certainly spices up a trip to the latrine once it has got dark). Big sticks have been issued and the guards will be extra vigilant. The snakes become more active when it rains, and we have had a lot of rain recently. Further investigation of the termite problem revealed a large frog sat over the top of the termite hole, waiting for them to emerge. The frogs also become more active in the rain. We are hoping that the top link in the food chain finds easier pickings elsewhere. We will have to encourage the children to be noisier than usual tomorrow.