Natural History of Kenema

Ann and I have seen many plants and animals that are not in the natural environment of Wisconsin. Here are a few of the flora and fauna that we see almost every day when walking about Eastern Polytechnic and Kenema.

Agama Lizard (Agama agama).  Perhaps the most entertaining animals for us are the agama lizards that live near our house. There are 37 different species of agama in Africa, but we see only one. These 6 - 12 inch reptiles have striking blue bodies, yellow heads and tails of blue and gold. Agama means "not married."  The male will defend his territory in which there may be many females for breeding.  It is a good thing that he is not married because he is definitely not faithful.  He courts in the same manner in which he warns possible usurpers to his kingdom, by bobbing his head and body up and down. We think he looks like he is doing push-ups, so we call them all Arnold after the famous body-builder turned governor.

Arnold's love interest.

The female agamas are smaller and like a lot of females of a species, drabber.  [The photo here is from Wandering Danny in Kenya's Lake Nakuru National Park.] They are mottled brown.  It is fun to watch them gobble up a column of ants marching toward some food source. Our agamas are not shy at all and often will zoom under our chairs as we sit behind our house.

Internet photo of mangoes hanging.

Mango Tree.  Mango season in Sierra Leone begins in April.  By mid-May the country is inundated with this ubiquitous fruit.  At the market we can buy a dozen good-sized ones for less than $1. Wikipedia says that the word "mango" derives from the Malayalam word manna, and this fruit is truly food from heaven.   No one goes hungry during mango season.  Kids will climb trees or use long poles to knock the fruit off the tree. Others will try to catch the mango fruit before it hits the ground.  The mangoes hang from stems about a foot long making the fruit look like Christmas tree ornaments.   

A pair of chickens are camping out in the roots.

Sierra Leoneans eat green mangoes as well as the ripe ones.  The mango, like a lot of the fruit here (banana, pineapple, papaya), is not indigenous to Africa.  They have been planted. Apparently someone a long time ago was very industrious in cultivating mangoes in Kenema because the trees can be found everywhere.  I was surprised to read that mango trees 300 years old still have the capability of bearing fruit.  I love mangoes, but the big flat clinging fibrous seed in the middle makes it difficult to pare them efficiently.  We don't eat the skin either which can cause dermatitis. Ann snapped this photo of a mango tree because of the intricate anchor root structure that is clinging to what is basically rock.

Can you see the drumstick pods?

Moringa Tree (Moringa oleifera) We have a tree in our backyard that has lovely delicate foliage with sweet smelling flowers.  We were surprised in the fall when a colleague of ours at Eastern Polytechnic asked if he could pick some of the leaves from this tree.  It turns out that the leaves of the moringa tree are very nutritious, loaded with essential vitamins, calcium, iron, and magnesium. The seeds that are found in the 18 inch long pods the tree produces are believed to be medicinal. The pods give the tree the nickname "Drumstick Tree." A student of mine brought some of the seeds to a tutoring session recently and offered a few to me.  Initially, the taste seemed to me like a hazelnut, but the finish is definitely bitter, like a lot of medicines.  The medicinal effects of moringa seeds have not been studied well, but I imagine they would be useful just for the placebo effect.  One thing unusual about the moringa tree is that it can flower twice in a year or sometimes all year long given the right conditions..

Termite Mound.  Here is a termite mound on the campus.  The primary school where Ann volunteers her time is in the background.  The mound contains vertical shafts that serve as ventilation conduits for the subterranean nest. On the road to Bo we have also seen termite mounds that looks like toadstools.  They are only about a foot or two high.  This one is about five feet tall.

Another photo taken from the internet.

Egrets of a smaller variety come to feed on the campus soccer field almost every morning.  I have counted up to 40 at a time.  They are rather shy creatures, so I did not get a good picture of them with Ann's i-phone.  Sometimes around happy hour they will venture toward our house in search of bugs in the grass.  They are stealthy hunters with sharp eyes.  At dusk they all take off for their common gathering place in the rice fields north of town. 








Pied crow compliments of the internet again.


Pied Crows (Corvus albus).  All of the crows that I have seen in Africa are of the pied variety.  These black and white birds are the most wide-spread members of the crow family in Africa. At Eastern Polytechnic they are very social and gather in the evening in a tall dead tree.  I have counted up to 15 at once.  Wikipedia says that they prefer living next to people.

Banana tree, trash pile, mango tree.

Banana Tree.  Of course there are lots of banana trees around.  Here is a snap of one that we pass on our walk to the Peace Corps office.  It never ceases to amaze me all of the energy that the tree puts into making its enormous leaves.  The banana leaf starts out as a tightly coiled vertical shaft then gradually unravels.  The bananas here are by and large smaller than the ones we buy in River Falls grocery stores, but they taste just as sweet.  Ann prefers the short stubby red variety when she can find them.  The going rate is about 15 cents for 5 bananas.

Walking the rock requires careful steps.

Volcanic Rocks ?  There are only a few paved streets in Kenema.  Some are sandy, but many are like this one, solid hard rock.  I don't know what kind of rock it is, but it is reddish in color and resists erosion.  It is pitted and looks like lava put down by an ancient volcano.  Maybe one of my readers can identify it for me.