Let It Rain Meat!

The Long Rains are here and we need them.  Rainy season isn't the most convenient of seasons (with tons of mud, power outages most days, cold nights, increased traffic jams and face it- the laundry on the line will just never dry) but we need the rain- desperately- so we'll take the inconvenience that comes with it. 

The Rains also bring out the bugs.  And I mean tons of them.  Nairobi flies are out (with their little acid filled bodies- they fight dirty!) and tons of other bugs are making their way into our houses to avoid all the water.  But the biggest offender is the Flying Termite.  When the rains come (because the rains usually come at the same time in the evening- right around dark with additional showers through out the day) the conditions are perfect for the Flying Termites to swarm.  They are attracted to the sound of the rain pounding and the darkness outside their holes and they come out in huge swarms.  They fly to the lights- so if your windows are open, our your windows just don't shut tight, they WILL find a way in to your house- usually in large numbers.  Then they fly and bounce around the room until their wings fall off and then they wriggle and crawl around until you can sweep them up and get rid of them.  They don't hurt you, they just get into everything. 

I happened to comment about the invasion of the flying termites on facebook a few days ago- and a Kenyan friend responded, basically saying "what do you MEAN shut your windows!?  Let it rain meat!!"  Its true- flying termites are a favorite food of some Kenyan tribes and it is also true that they are a wonderful source of protein!  The night security guards at my building will gather hundreds of the termites when they are out after a good rain and take them home to eat.  I just don't see myself adding them to my next curry as a meat substitute...

My best termite story happened my first year in Kenya- click here for the story, or here for a lovely flying termite recipe I found in a magazine last year... it even gives you great helpful hints of how to collect the termites if its not raining!!