Don't Let the Bed Bugs Bite!

Perhaps South Africa has a different saying than “don’t let the bed bugs bite?” After a full day out hanging out with new friends, driving around looking at the beautiful countryside, doing laundry (the old fashion way), and cooking, I arrived home to a fully lit house. When I first arrived in Acornhoek this would have been just what I had wished for, since I was so scared of stepping on a scorpion or a snake, but now that I have been here a while I figured out the secret that for some reason folks don’t tell you. I guess it is a live and learn kind of game if you can’t figure the lights out you won’t last that long. Anyways, the secret is that the lights only attract the bugs! Basically, me leaving the lights on all day meant that I was about to be greeted by every type of flying insect that lives here.

I stepped in cautiously, reaching to the right to grab my newly purchased and hung fly swatter and stepping again to the right to grab my new favorite thing…..a can of bug spray, convientely and purposefully placed next to the door for just these occasions. Armed for battle, I stepped forward and slowly looked up to find the most usual thing. You would think since I have been shocked day after day about things here in Acornhoek, I would not be shocked by things anymore...unfortunately, that is not how it works

Anyways, coming from my ceiling were thousands of spiders dropping down about 5 feet (my ceilings are about 15 feet). This would have been kind of a cool sight, if by chance, it wasn’t in my house. At that point, I didn’t even care about the beetles and the mouths flying about. Unfortunately, I also realized that my can of bug spray and my fly swatter were going to be useless.

In fear of all the spiders falling on my head at once, I walked as close to the wall as possible to get to my bedroom. Yes, I know pretty lame sight but you would have totally done it too if you saw how many spiders there were.

I walked in my bedroom flustered since I thought I had just gotten used to the life here and looked up to find another “amazing” site – about 20 flying cockroaches nested on the ceiling surrounding my light. As usual, cockroaches here are not like they are in the states. Here there are hundreds of different kinds and what was on my ceiling where huge cockroaches the size of dates.

Hmm awesome now I had spiders in one room and cockroaches in the other. What a lovely way to end the evening. I quickly turned off the lights not even thinking and the cockroaches swarmed down, causing me to drop to the floor – I know another lovely visually of me freaking out. When I had the nerve to look up I realized that they had only gone in search of new light in the other room. It is then that I realized the true beauty of what I thought were annoying insects. Almost every flying cockroach got stuck in the webs of the spiders that were dropping down from the ceiling. AWESOME! Better than any bug spray I had ever used.

I turned around satisfied and walked three steps to the bathroom to get ready for bed. As I laid down to go to sleep I started to wonder what would happen to the cockroaches, are they slowly going to fall onto the ground, or more likely on to me as I am walking underneath...

Before I could continue with my thoughts my legs started to itch. I turned on my flashlight to find fleas all over my bed. I got up, rather annoyed at this point and sprayed my bed with my favorite bug spray and tiredly laid back down. I fell asleep that night listening to the call of the lions – another thing you would find only in the bush! Night everyone – don’t let the bed bugs bite.