Music of the Night
Corinne Kendall— 23 March 2010 — in East Africa Project    Share

Back in the Mara, I had yet another unwelcome tent guest to join me in the evening. It took me quite a while to find this one as it was also in between the two layers of tent cover and lining. We had just had a heavy rain and the sounds of crickets and frogs had taken over the night. Then there was the scratching. It is just a dung beetle I told myself, but I still couldn’t sleep with the sounds of an intruder rustling near my bed. I finally turned the light on. Nothing. Then the sound. I turned the light on again. Nothing. Finally I turned on the light and pulled out my flashlight. As I got out of bed, I could see a white mass in the upper right corner of my tent door – toad belly. He had managed to wedge himself almost all the way to the top. I opened the tent lining and slowly pulled the heavier layer back. The toad pulled his legs in and let himself slide, like a child on a waterslide he hit the ground with a soft plop, but he was fine. Then he immediately began hoping towards the tent opening. “Oh no you don’t,” I thought. I put my hand over the lower opening as I zipped myself in and the toad out. Disappointed at his inability to explore the interior of my home, the fist-sized toad turned himself around and headed back out into the rainy night.

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