Ants vs. Termites: guess who wins?

I visited the mountains near Wli waterfall this weekend. I was here once before- over two years ago. In the past two years so much has changed in my life, but the mountain looks the same and the little village in the valley is still constructed of mud. I might be biased, but from the Ghanaian side the mountain range looks more lush and green, whereas from the Togolese side, the scars of clearcutting are quite obvious. William the forest ranger, who was our guide, screams into the valley when he hears the roaring of chainsaws illegally cutting down trees. "Stop cutting the trees! I will come down there to cut you!" I think he means "catch you", but what is the success of one lone forest ranger on foot against so many people who are just trying to make some money in order to sustain their lives. When you're worried about the day to day survival of your family, long term planning is not high on the list of priorities.

I was reminded of the highly evolved ants in the forests by their rather painful bites. These are fierce creatures that travel en mass through the forest. When they crawl onto your toes, ankles, and shins, they will not hesitate to dig their teeth (do ants have teeth?) into your skin. Let's just say, on our hike, we became very respectful of ants and yielded to them when our paths intersected. The termites (beige/yellow-coloured) in this picture were not so fortunate. Their army marched directly into the path of the ants and were promptly caught and carried away. Even the plants are highly evolved. Angie made this keen observation when she chewed on the initially sweet taste of some red forest berries and thereafter promptly spitting out the bitter aftertaste along with its seed into the fertile forest soil. Tricks of survival are everywhere in this forest.

Amanda is finally leaving Togo. I met her last night before she flew out of Kotoka Airport here in Accra. She was exhausted and couldn't wait to go home. I still cannot believe that she stayed in Togo for 28 months. She was there for the entire event: Eyadema's death, Faurre's coup, the elections, and the violent aftermath. I remember speaking to her on the phone over a year ago when she told of gun shots in Vogan, her village, after the elections. She told me that Peacecorps pulled their volunteers out of the Plateau region (where Kpalime is) after one raid on a local hotel, where American visitors were tied up, robbed, and beaten. Kpalime, the peaceful little town in the mountains, an opposition strong-hold, became crime-ridden in the spring of 2005. All I remember is the peaceful group of men with sticks and pitchforks the day after Eyadema died. They were going to hunt 'agouti', Ewe for grasscutters, and definitely not stirring up a revolution.