It Happened One Night in Madagascar
Madagascar, once infamous for pirates, is now a major destination for eco-tourism. Situated off the African continent, it is the fifth largest island in the world and home to unique flora. and fauna.
My main purpose for visiting this incredible countrywas to see the 100 plus species of lemurs ,many of which are critically endangered, And I was very lucky. Within a few weeks of traversing the length and breadth of this country with my wonderful guide Riane (who looked exactly like the F1 champion Lewis Hamilton), I had seen several species of lemurs and also many large chameleons and spiders. But these are not the mythical creature I am talking about.
One day we found ourselves in the Isalo National Park and were parked in a remote eco-lodge. It was a very basic lodge that made its own electricity. The guest cottages were some distance from the central reception and dining area. So upon reaching, I naturally asked the manager whether there were any snakes and spiders that we should be worried about, He mentioned rather casually that there were several snakes but they were mostly harmless. But what we have to worry about was another creature, It was a HISSING COCKROACH
Now what on earth in a HISSING COCKROACH!!!! He said that it was a gigantic coachroach and it hisses like a snake when it wants to mate.
I am one of those souls who is not afraid of most animals. But I have an irrational fear of cockroaches and bats. So the idea of crossing path with a HISSING COCKROACH seemed rather terrifying.
After a sumptuous dinner with several shots of Malagasy rum and lot of dancing to African beats, I retired to my room for the night. As it was a hot summer’s night and the place did not have air-conditioning, I decided to leave the windows open. I curled myself like a ball inside the mosquito-netted bed so that I was not exposed to any mosquito or spider sting.
Early in the morning I woke up and saw a strange object on the window sill. It looked like a giant match box. I drifted back to sleep and soon forgot about that blurry image.
On waking, I took a shower and sprayed myself generously with a deodorant. Then I heard a shrill HISSSSSSSS. I looked around to see if a snake had slipped into the room but could not see anything. So I pressed the duo spray again. Again I heard a bone-chilling HISSSSSSSSSSS. Now I was fully paranoid and looked around the room again. And this time I looked at the window sill and saw that the HISSSSSSSS was coming from that matchbox, Except this was not an ordinary matchbox. It was that mythical creature… the HISSING COCKROACH. And It was signalling it’s potential date…ME.
I ran out of the room like Hussian Bolt. I still get goosebumps as I tell you this story.