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David led us through a path that we didn¡¦t know about in 2015. It was good to experience something new in this old location. It had been raining frequently lately. We came across a small river. Normally, the water was low and slow moving. Today, it was almost raging with gushing sounds that told us to stay away. We walked over the ramshackle wooden bridge quickly to minimize the time above this overflowing river. We continued walking through plantations of cacao, corn, banana, and cassava. Then we came across a small creek that was quite shallow. We easily waded through it with our rubber boots. This creek probably didn¡¦t exist on sunny days. We walked through more mosaics of farmlands and forests. At 2:49 p.m., we had arrived at the Oba Tree. David took a quick peek and confirmed the Royal Goliath Beetle was still there. Perhaps I had had enough training from 2015, I quickly spotted the beetle. Q-san located it, too. After some pointers, Andy saw it as well. Interestingly, nobody had an urge to catch it personally even though it was zero stakes. We were all too laid back. After all, we already got a breeding colony of the Royal Goliath Beetle established back home and David had caught us an additional six. We decided to let David do it. In 2015, when Viktor was attempting to catch our first Royal Goliath Beetle, we could hardly breathe as we watched intensely. David was very relaxed, too. He raised the insect rod as if in slow motion. Despite the beetle being about 14 meters above ground, the maximum length of Andy¡¦s insect rod, David gracefully maneuvered the insect rod and tapped on the branches right below the Goliath Beetle. The vibration caused the beetle to let go of the branch and fall right into the insect net. Now we had five males and two females. When the first Royal Goliath Beetle was caught in 2015, we screamed our heads off. Today, we remained pretty composed. We certainly enjoyed the experience, but the intense passion was gone. Andy calmly retrieved the beetle from the net and placed him in a plastic container. It was starting to get a little late, so we decided to head back to the village. On the way back, we saw another Oba Tree with a pair of the Royal Goliath Beetle mating in the canopy. However, this was a mature Oba Tree whose canopy was beyond the reach of our insect rods. It didn¡¦t really bother us. If this was 2015, the frustration would have been unbearable. We took turns using Q-san¡¦s military grade binoculars to appreciate the Royal Goliath Beetles as if we were birding. We got a better understanding of what Goliath Beetles did in the wild. In the beginning, we thought we were seeing two males fighting. But Q-san¡¦s military grade binoculars allowed us to see fine details such as one of them did not have a horn, which meant it was a female. We saw the female trying to push the male away. He was a big male and did not budge. This assured the female that he was strong with good genes. Soon after, the female allowed the male to mate with her. Then we moved on. It was 4:48 p.m. when we returned to the village. It had been a long day. We were tired and sweaty. We said goodbye to David and his family and drove to our motel in the nearby town about 25 minutes away. After we checked in and got settled, we began to feed the seven Royal Goliath Beetles. Strangely, we had never had any luck attracting Goliath Beetles to our banana traps. However, once captured, Goliath Beetles would accept banana juice as food. For the rest of the evening, we did routine activities such as having dinner, hand washing dirty clothes, showering, and medicating insect bites. Biting midges were ubiquitous in the forests. Within several hours of arriving at the Forest of Djin Djin, our limbs were already covered in incredibly pruritic bumps. Anti-itch creams worked minimally. Trying to fall asleep with midge bites was challenging to say the least. The more I scratched, the itchier they got. There was no winning. Eventually, the center of each bump would form a blister. Previous experience from 2015 told me this intense itch would persist for about two weeks.~*pf6 ©©øÂν׾ -- ©øÂν׾¡@¡@ WU;l I didn¡¦t wake up as many times in the middle of the night because the Doxycycline burn on the esophagus had begun to subside. The rope burn wound on my right middle finger also had scabbed up. At this point, it appeared infection would no longer be a concern. Some of my worries were starting to go away. If we had found the Chief Goliath Beetle, this trip would have been perfect. We met in the dining hall at 7:40 a.m. and had omelet and toasted bread for breakfast. We returned to the Forest of Djin Djin by 9:30 a.m. and didn¡¦t leave until 6 p.m. It rained quite a bit in the morning and the temperature for today was 25 to 26 degrees Celsius. David took us to yet another new trail. This one was very exhausting as it was mostly uphill. At 11:14 a.m., after more than one and a half hours of hiking, we finally arrived at the first Oba Tree of the day. It happened to be right next to an elementary school. It was recess and there were many children playing in the field. Most of them were wearing a yellow and brown uniform. Some were singing. Some were playing soccer. But as soon as they saw us, they stopped what they were doing and looked at us with great curiosity. Foreigners rarely came this far out. (We would be in the Forest of Djin Djin for five more days. They would eventually get used to us and continue playing without minding us. Two schoolgirls would even each catch us a Royal Goliath Beetle!) This Oba Tree was a medium sized tree, well within the range of our insect rods. However, there were currently no Goliath Beetles on it. It started raining again. We needed to take cover. There was a storage shed that belonged to the elementary school. We went in there to hide from the rain. As we waited for the rain to pass, David used the time to tell us how challenging it was for local children to get an education. They had to hike long distances, often barefooted, through rugged terrains with venomous snakes to get to school. Then the trip home would be just as difficult. Some girls got raped in the mountains and became single mothers at a very young age. During the rainy season, the long commutes became dangerous with slippery mud and toppled trees. As a result, many children could not persevere and dropped out of school. Without education, it was difficult for villagers to escape poverty. It was a short rain. By 11:56 a.m., we began moving again. We came across many ants on the trail as they fled their flooded nests. It was not an issue for us because we were wearing tall rubber boots, but some barefooted villagers got stung badly. At 1:01 p.m., we arrived at the second Oba Tree of the day.Q"Z ©©øÂν׾ -- ©øÂν׾¡@¡@ 5<ip Much excitement took place at this site. This was also a medium sized Oba Tree whose entirety was within our insect rod¡¦s reach. This tree had an active sap flow and apparently was a very popular destination for Royal Goliath Beetles. There was a big male in the canopy when we arrived. Since there was zero pressure to obtain more Royal Goliath Beetles, we advocated Q-san to give a shot at catching this one. Although within reach, catching him would still be challenging because he was hidden behind many branches. Q-san would have to meander through the branches to get to him. To make the task even more challenging, there was wind blowing, which made everything a moving target. Q-san¡¦s insect rod had to dance with the branches in synchrony so they wouldn¡¦t collide with each other. Q-san was doing a fantastic job in the beginning, but the task became increasingly difficult with time as Q-san¡¦s muscles began to fatigue and gave in to the weight of the insect rod. Eventually, the insect rod touched a branch prematurely and startled the Goliath Beetle. He quickly flew away. It was lunch time so we decided to stay where we were and eat bread and canned tuna. Not long after, faint buzzing developed in the background. Then the faint buzzing gradually became conspicuous buzzing. Then the conspicuous buzzing ultimately became roaring buzzing. By this time, there was no mistaking. A giant Goliath Beetle was coming. Very soon, a giant male entered the scene. He did not immediately land on the Oba Tree. He circled it a few times before landing in the canopy. It was almost unreal to watch such an enormous insect airborne with such a dramatic sound effect. We asked David to make the second attempt. Pretty much the same thing happened and the beetle flew away, but we didn¡¦t really mind. We just went back to eating lunch. After a while, the roaring buzzing returned and we got our third attempt on this Oba Tree. Today was not our day. Even the third attempt failed. We could not be sure if the three beetles that came were the same individual or three different beetles. We waited to see if there would be the fourth attempt, but the forest stayed quiet for a while. We decided to move on since there were more Oba Trees to check. At 2:19 p.m., we arrived at the third Oba Tree of the day. I started looking around and all of a sudden I thought I was in a Deja vu. Things looked a little different, but it felt like I had been to this place before! Maybe I was too exhausted and was hallucinating or something. Then David asked if things looked familiar. I looked around again and contemplated. Yes, of course, this is where we caught our first ever Royal Goliath Beetle in 2015! We were here on June 22 of last year! The surrounding bushes had grown taller and denser. The main reason that I didn¡¦t immediately recognize it was because we came in from a different direction. In 2015, we came with the banana trees on our right. Today, we came in with the banana trees on our left. It was so good to be back again.> ©©øÂν׾ -- ©øÂν׾¡@¡@ P7. We stood on the same spot as we did a little over one year ago and recalled what we went through in 2015. We exchanged tears and laughter. The Greek philosopher Heraclitus and his famous words came to mind: ¡§One can never step in the same river twice.¡¨ That was exactly what we were living. In 2015, we experienced uncertainty, anxiety, and desperation to name a few emotions. But in 2016 in the same location, we were experiencing relaxation and contentment. We didn¡¦t need to collect more specimens of the Royal Goliath Beetle. We sincerely hoped that one day we would feel the same about the Chief Goliath Beetle. As we looked around, everything was calm; we didn¡¦t see or hear anything. It appeared this Oba Tree was not currently having an active sap flow. It was midafternoon and we thought it was a good time to return to the village. There was something that we had wanted to do for a long time. Now we knew the way. We were on the same trail as last year. Wherever we stepped, we could see images of ourselves from the past. There were some changes to the landscape, though. The vegetation of some places got thicker while that of others got cut back. We came upon some girls in their early teens working in the fields. They were clearing unwanted plants with machetes. As we passed by, they greeted us with big smiles. We walked through many more familiar hills and valleys. At 3:24 p.m., we had made a big loop and returned to the village. Soon after returning, we were surrounded by curious children. This was just what we had in mind. Seeing the poverty the villagers were facing on our first expedition, Andy and I purchased several large bags of mini chocolate bars after we returned to Taiwan and the US, respectively. What easier way than candies, which were economical and popular, to make children happy, albeit temporarily? Andy also bought several soccer balls as the local children were playing soccer with makeshift balls made of compressed garbage such as used plastic bags and old fabric with a stone in the center for weight. When the children saw us take out the gifts they got very excited, perhaps even a little chaotic. We quickly assured them that there was going to be enough to go around for everyone and started handing out chocolates. To our puzzlement, the children just stood there without further actions after we gave each and everyone some mini chocolate bars. We thought perhaps they wanted to take them home to share. I asked them how come they didn¡¦t want to eat the chocolates now. To our surprise, they didn¡¦t know the chocolate bars were food. They were waiting for further instructions from us. Some thought they were toys or something. I showed them how to unwrap the packaging and ate the content in front of them. Some children took a small bite and stopped. I thought they didn¡¦t like it. Upon inquiry, they said they stopped because chocolate tasted so good; they wanted to take them home to share with brothers and sisters. I felt heartbroken. I couldn¡¦t imagine there being any child in the US, Europe, or Taiwan who had never had chocolate. It was one of the cheapest snacks out there. Yet here we were; the biggest producers of cacao beans on the planet didn¡¦t know the taste of chocolate. The situation might be analogous to dairy farmers not knowing the taste of cheese or wheat growers not knowing the taste of bread. It was mind blowing. After asking around, the villagers made four to eight Ghanaian cedis (one to two US dollars) per day from cacao farming. This was my first introduction to the massive imbalances in the chocolate trade. According to various sources, the chocolate industry was worth over 100 billion US dollars annually. But only less than 2% of that went to Ghana. Europe and North America had the lion¡¦s share while cacao farmers who did all the hard work lived below poverty line.Y ©©øÂν׾ -- ©øÂν׾¡@¡@ 9Y There was a large field between the village and the mountains. The children ran there with their real soccer balls and started playing. Soccer was a huge sport in Ghana. Some children said they hoped to become professional soccer players when they grew up. We watched the children play soccer until sunset. Afterwards we leisurely returned to the motel and had dinner. During the day, we got many more bites from the midges, despite using ample insect repellent (the issue was that we were sweating so much that the sweat was constantly washing off the insect repellent). My fingers were starting to swell up. I thought it would be a good idea to remove the ring on my ring finger before more swelling set in. Suddenly, I realized it was already stuck. It could not move past the joint. I quickly went to the bathroom and applied soapsuds to my ring finger. After a lot of forceful twists and pulls, the ring finally came off. Had I waited until the next morning, I might have to cut it off with pliers or lose my finger to ischemia. It was a close call for sure. We really didn¡¦t have much more to accomplish for this second expedition. We decided to take it easy. Tomorrow we would return to the Oba Tree where the Royal Goliath Beetle came three times and just sit there for the entire day. We decided to sleep in a little, too. It had been eleven days since we landed in Ghana for the second time. We were exhausted.-* ©©øÂν׾ -- ©øÂν׾¡@¡@ %Y) We took our time the next day. It was already 11:20 a.m. when we got to the Oba Tree. The Royal Goliath Beetle had not arrived. It was a cloudy day with occasionally sunshine and temperatures between 26 and 27 degrees Celsius. The humidity was high with little to no wind. The conditions were perfect for Goliath Beetles; warm temperature made them metabolically active and no wind allowed ease of flight. It was a matter of time before the Royal Goliath Beetle showed up. An old couple lived right next to this Oba Tree. We greeted them and gave them some gifts since we would be spending the entire day next to their hut. They graciously lent us their bench so we could sit under the Oba Tree. We had lunch together. We shared with them bread and canned tuna. They talked to us about the dangers of living in the Forest of Djin Djin. This was the home of the Gaboon Viper, the snake that injected the most venom in the world. To make matters worse, it also had the longest fangs of all snakes at approximately 5 centimeters, which injected venom deep into the victim. With large amount of venom injected deeply, bites were fatal. Villagers had no protection against Gaboon Viper bites because they were barefooted or only wore sandals. The markings on the Gaboon Viper allowed it to blend in perfectly with the forest floor, making avoidance difficult. In the Western World where people wore shoes/boots and drove cars, scientists advocated conservation of all snakes, including venomous ones. But here in rural Ghana, it was about life or death. Every time a Gaboon Viper was spotted, it would be killed. The old couple showed us the carcasses of two Gaboon Vipers that they killed recently. They did their best to reduce the risk by keeping undergrowth as low as possible around their hut. They did so by tying several goats close to their hut. The goats did a fantastic job in devouring all the vegetation within reach. As we chatted, the familiar buzzing became increasingly loud. No surprise here, the king of all insects had arrived. After he landed on the Oba Tree, we were in no hurry to catch him. We wanted to see what he would do. His excellent sense of smell guided him to the sap flow. There were some smaller beetles, wasps, flies, and butterflies feeding on the sap flow. The big male pushed them all away with his horns and started enjoying the sap flow. This time he had perched on a relatively open spot with not too many branches in the way. Q-san caught him with standard operation of insect rod and became the first Taiwanese to ever have caught a wild Goliath Beetle! It was 2:23 p.m. We continued to sit under the Oba Tree to see if more would come. No more Goliath Beetles came for the rest of the day. We decided to head back by 4:50 p.m. On our way back, our path was completely blocked by a recently fallen tree. It took us a few minutes to cross over its trunk and branches. This was a reminder of the dangers the villagers faced every day.`=/6 ©©øÂν׾ -- ©øÂν׾¡@¡@ " Our second expedition to Ghana was winding down. Tomorrow, July 27th, 2016, would be our thirteenth day. We would leave the Forest of Djin Djin on July 30 and depart Ghana on July 31. We went back to the motel to get ready for dinner. We accomplished daily chores such as handwashing dirty clothes, taking a cold shower, feeding Goliath Beetles and cleaning their enclosures, and medicating our insect bites with steroid cream among others. Q-san had brought a portable Bluetooth speaker from Taiwan. It would blast daily from the time we returned to the motel to the time we went to bed. The Taiwanese music made doing the chores less tiring. Sometimes the motel staff would dance to the Taiwanese music, too! After dinner we strolled around the motel. It was a gated property with some night lighting. The high humidity of the night and its misty air made the lights glow with a mysterious haze. The lights attracted many insects; most of which were ants. As we explored from light to light, our activity caught the attention of the other motel guests, who were missionaries from Europe. They came out to see what we were doing and if everything was alright. We told them that we were insect researchers and that we were observing some very interesting ants. They joined us for a short while. We were looking at some ¡§sausage flies,¡¨ which were unusual flying insects about 3 centimeters in length. They got their name from their long and fat sausage-like abdomen. As they crawled around on the ground, they really looked like moving sausages. They were delicacies in some African cultures. However, they were not flies at all. They were actually males of ants belonging to the genus Dorylus, commonly known as the Driver Ants. They looked so different from their worker counterparts that for a while they were thought to be a different species. They behaved very differently, too. The Driver Ants were given their name because they formed hunting swarms by the millions. As they rampaged through the forest floor, tree trunks, tree branches, and canopies, they drove terrified inhabitants out of their home as they fled in all directions. Anything moving slower than the Driver Ants became meals of the ferocious predators. Preys included caterpillars, slugs, termites, scorpions, mice, and even baby birds to name a few. On the other hand, ¡§sausage flies¡¨ were solitary and harmless. We had witnessed Driver Ant hunting swarms in multiple locations including the Forest of Djin Djin and Wli Waterfalls. In one instance, we saw Driver Ants taking out a termite colony. The Driver Ants were capable of biting and stinging and definitely a force to be reckoned with. Their hunting swarms were not just a bunch of disordered ants. They were composed of worker ants and soldier ants in highly organized structures. The soldier ants formed protective tunnels with their bodies and guarded them with their enlarged jaws while the worker ants passed through them carrying preys like trucks on highways. The soldier ants had incredibly powerful jaws that did not let go once they bit down on something even if they were decapitated. Due to their nature of never letting go, some African cultures used the solider ants of Driver Ants as natural sutures to close wounds! They would get a soldier ant to bite on either side of the wound, thereby bringing the two sides of the skin together, and cut the head off. The missionaries enjoyed their short evening with us and were fascinated by the biology of the Driver Ants.P?FQv ©©øÂν׾ -- ©øÂν׾¡@¡@ ![ We didn¡¦t have any specific agendas to accomplish for the remainder of the trip. We decided to just explore the Forest of Djin Djin and appreciate its beauty. The next day, we passed by the elementary school again. The children were singing loudly in the schoolyard. By now, the children were used to us. One girl ran to us and told us that she had something for us. Then she ran back to the classroom to fetch it. Very soon, she returned with a sealed bucket. We were not sure what was in it, but we had an idea. Q-san proceeded to open the bucket¡¦s airtight lid. Then we all exclaimed. It was a giant specimen of the Royal Goliath Beetle. In the wild, the vast majority of the Royal Goliath Beetle were specimens under 9 centimeters in length. The little girl¡¦s Royal Goliath Beetle was over 10 centimeters, the biggest we had seen on both expeditions. It would be awesome to pass along his genes in captivity. Unfortunately, the villagers had no tools to catch Goliath Beetles. This giant male was shot out of the canopy with a catapult and preserved in Akpeteshie. We thanked her and gave her a nice tip. Another girl ran to us and told us that she also had one at home. She would bring it to us tomorrow. We shook hands to make a deal. We promised each other to be here at the same time tomorrow. Today was not a good day to catch Goliath Beetles. It had been rainy until about 2 p.m. with temperatures between 26 to 28 degrees Celsius. Goliath Beetles didn¡¦t like to fly in rain as the water would weigh them down and make them slow and prone to predators such as hornbills. We checked several Oba Trees but didn¡¦t see any Goliath Beetles. On our way back to the village, we came across a hunting swarm of the Driver Ants. The width of the swarm was at least two meters. We could not jump over it. We had to take one step into the swarm before we could cross it. It was not much of a challenge for us because we were wearing tall rubber boots. Some villagers got stung as they crossed the swarm with sandals, which was heart-wrenching to see. It was 3:50 p.m. when we got back to the village. After the rain, all the farm animals had come out to forage. We walked through sheep, goats, and chickens as they strolled through the fields. There was also a herd of cattle in a distance. The villagers were chatting with each other as they sat on the benches outside their huts. It was a tranquil and picturesque scene. I took a good look at everything around me as I knew I would be leaving soon. There was no telling when I would visit Africa again.rjw ©©øÂν׾ -- ©øÂν׾¡@¡@ F0 Back at the motel, we briefly discussed the situation with the Chief Goliath Beetle over dinner. We had looked for it in eastern Ghana, central Ghana, and western Ghana with no signs of its existence. Although there were a handful of records of the Chief Goliath Beetle from Ghana, they were half-a-century old and no longer applicable today. Locations included Accra, Elmina, and Kumasi. We had already visited these places and they were completely deforested. Furthermore, whether the Chief Goliath Beetle existed in Ghana in the first place was questionable. It was entirely possible that specimens of the Chief Goliath Beetle were brought to the seaports of Elmina and Accra by seamen and merchants who had previously made stops in Liberia and Ivory Coast. When they were sold or exchanged at Ghana¡¦s seaports, the new owners documented them as Ghanaian! These mistakes frequently happened in the past. As a matter of fact, when the Chief Goliath Beetle was described in 1789, the author thought it was from Latin America and gave it the scientific name Goliathus cacicus, which was derived from ¡§Cacique,¡¨ Spanish for Latin American tribal chief. Should we continue our search in Ghana, or should we shift our attention to Ivory Coast? All specimens of the Chief Goliath Beetle from 1980 to 2012 had come exclusively from Ivory Coast, with Abidjan and San Pedro being the two biggest localities. Obviously, we would not be visiting Ivory Coast anytime soon. A lot of planning would have to go into it. But at this point, it appeared we would have to start thinking about visiting Ivory Coast. Judging from the information we had gathered on this trip, winter seemed to be the best time to find the Chief Goliath Beetle; when we were in Ankasa, all the signs showed the beetle season was November through January. As a matter of fact, the last known specimens of the Chief Goliath Beetle were captured in Ivory Coast in December of 2011. If we were to visit Ivory Coast, the most likely time would be winter of 2017.Y}N_@: ©©øÂν׾ -- ©øÂν׾¡@¡@ {(:@j The next morning, we returned to the elementary school to meet the little girl who had a Royal Goliath Beetle for us. We could see her waiting for us from a distance. She eagerly came up to us and handed us a plastic bag with a knot. David untied the knot to reveal a medium-sized male Royal Goliath Beetle preserved in Akpeteshie. We thanked her with a nice tip. It was recess and many children were singing in the schoolyard. We watched them for a while before continuing our hike in the Forest of Djin Djin. We didn¡¦t see any Goliath Beetles yesterday because it was rainy. Interestingly, although today was sunny with temperatures between 26 and 28 Degrees Celsius, which were great conditions for Goliath Beetles to take flight, we still didn¡¦t see any today. Granted, we took it easy and didn¡¦t check all the Oba Trees today. If we had, we probably would have seen some Goliath Beetles. We revisited David¡¦s old residence that was deep in the Forest of Djin Djin. When we got there, we were surrounded by a familiar fragrance. The lemon-flavored guavas were in peak season. Not only were the fruits in abundance, they were also in maximum ripeness. We were thirst and sweaty. What better to quench our thirst and replenish our vitamins than these amazing fruits? I picked a big one off the tree and gave it a gently squeeze. The soft, but not squishy, texture revealed the timing was perfect. I eagerly bit into the thick and smooth flesh coupled with citrus flavor and sweetness. It was intriguing, rejuvenating, and one of the highlights of the day. After some rest, we headed back to the village. It was 5:04 p.m. when we arrived at the village. We decided to walk to the nearest town for no particular reason. It took a little over one hour to get there on foot. When we got there, it was filled with smoke and barbeque flavor. We walked to the roadside vendor that was doing the cooking. He was grilling beef and beef intestines. They smelled absolutely fantastic, not to mention it was dinner time. Normally, we stayed away from street food to minimize the risk of diarrhea. This trip was almost over and we weren¡¦t looking for the Chief Goliath Beetle anymore. It wouldn¡¦t matter if we got diarrhea now. Q-san and I decided to be adventurous. Andy had always had a sensitive stomach so he would hold back. The beef tasted great, but it was the beef intestines that fascinated me. The small intestines were grilled until the outside was crispy. The seasoning and texture were perfect. The most memorable part was when the intestinal juices oozed out when I bit down, which were fermented grass slush. The content was creamy with mild sweetness, similar to yogurt. I was so impressed that I ordered a second portion. Mohammed met us at the market and drove us back to the motel. I never developed diarrhea. The experience was totally worth it. 8p3~ ©©øÂν׾ -- ©øÂν׾¡@¡@ .t July 29, 2016 came, our last full day in the Forest of Djin Djin. It was a day of mixed feelings. On the one hand, we were saddened that our trip was coming to an end with the certain fate of no Chief Goliath Beetle, a failed expedition, essentially. On the other hand, we felt a sense of relief as we were exhausted and covered in insect bites. It was sunny most of the day with temperatures between 26 and 28 degrees Celsius. We hiked through all the trails and checked all the Oba Trees we knew. Not surprisingly, we saw several Royal Goliath Beetles today, but all of them were on giant Oba Trees beyond the reach of our insect rods. There was no emotional rollercoaster because we had already obtained several Royal Goliath Beetles on this trip, not to mention we already got a breeding colony of the Royal Goliath Beetle established back home. We powered through all the trails and came out of the forest by 4 p.m. We were covered in sweat. I could literally easily wring sweat out of my clothes. David told us that he would try to catch those Royal Goliath Beetles at night. Goliath Beetles didn¡¦t typically fly at night as the temperatures dropped. He would hit the nearby branches with a catapult. The vibrations would cause the beetles to let go of their hold and fall to the ground. We returned to the motel a bit early to do some final packing and laundry so that it would dry by tomorrow morning. Although we didn¡¦t find the Chief Goliath Beetle, we still had much to be thankful for, such as health and safety.{/2m ©©øÂν׾ -- ©øÂν׾¡@¡@ pNbS80 We met David at 8:30 a.m. the next day. He told us the Goliath Beetles had already flown away when he checked the Oba Trees at night. We all gave him a big hug and some gift money. Like last year, we left behind our tall rubber boots, shoes, and common daily commodities, which were highly treasured by the villagers. Then we departed for Accra in flip-flops. As Mohammed drove away, I turned my head to the back. With great sadness, I saw David and the Forest of Djin Djin become smaller and smaller. I didn¡¦t turn back around until David completely disappeared from my view. We had no idea when we would visit the Forest of Djin Djin again. At 1:45 p.m., we stopped for gasoline and lunch. We had the timeless fried chicken and fried rice with Shito. We brought the Goliath Beetles into the restaurant too because we would not want them to overheat in the car. Again, they were a novelty even to the locals and drew many exclamations. Sometime in the late afternoon, we arrived at the Volta River for the fourth time. Once more, I saw that island with lush forests in a distance. I couldn¡¦t help but wonder if the Chief Goliath Beetle lived there. It would be such a pity to miss it like that. ¡§I guess I will never find out,¡¨ I murmured to myself. At 7:31 p.m., we arrived in Accra. We decided to check in to the motel, unpack, and feed the Goliath Beetles first before going to dinner. I carefully unpacked the Goliath Beetles and fed them slices of fresh banana. I did not close the lids because I wanted them to enjoy fresh air after travelling all day in small containers. It was already 8:41 p.m. when we got to the restaurant. This time we had something different. We had some fried peanuts, chicken kebabs, lamb kebabs, beef kebabs, and fresh mangoes. We also tried a new drink called Alvaro, which was another non-alcoholic beer. The version I tried had pear flavor added to it. We didn¡¦t stay too long as it was getting late. Shortly after eating, we returned to the motel. When I opened the door, a chemical fragrance rushed to my nose. At first, I didn¡¦t think too much of it, albeit it was a bit odd. After a few seconds, my memory cells awakened and a chill went down my spine. Oh my god, it was pesticide. While we were gone, the motel staff out of courtesy came into our rooms to spray pesticides to kill mosquitoes. I ran to my Goliath Beetles. They were all dead. Things could not be worse. Not only had I not found the Chief Goliath Beetle, I had also lost the Royal Goliath Beetle. The second expedition had become a total failure. I was going home with absolutely nothing. I was devastated.e ©©øÂν׾ -- ©øÂν׾¡@¡@ p@ I sat on the bed reflecting on the second expedition to West Africa. There was so much hope and anticipation prior to departure. After all, we succeeded in 2015. There was no reason the same couldn¡¦t happen in 2016. But then day by day, the dream of rediscovering the Chief Goliath Beetle drifted further away. I couldn¡¦t even keep the consolation prize of the Royal Goliath Beetle. Would I ever find the Chief Goliath Beetle? Would the puzzle of Nickerl¡¦s Beetle ever get solved? I was saddened and exhausted, which made me fall asleep pretty quickly. I didn¡¦t set any alarm for the next morning. There was no need. My flight would not depart until 11:15 p.m. I could sleep all day if I wanted to. I was greatly disappointed again when I woke up the next morning realizing the deaths of the Royal Goliath Beetles by pesticide were not just a nightmare. It was a hard reality to swallow. Luckily, I was comforted by the fact that a robust breeding colony of the Royal Goliath Beetle had already been established back home. Had the pesticide incident happened in 2015, I would have cried my eyes out and probably had a heart attack. We didn¡¦t do much for the rest of the day. We even had time to take an afternoon nap. Originally, we had set time aside to go to the Ghana Forestry Commission Wildlife Division to apply for export permits to export Goliath Beetles. But now there were no Goliath Beetles to export as they had succumbed to pesticide. We arrived at the airport at 8:03 p.m. We had our last fried chicken and fried rice with Shito at the airport restaurant. After dinner, we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. Mac went back to Canada. Andy and Q-san went back to Taiwan. I went back to the United States. It was not clear when we would meet again. As the plane took off, I looked at Accra one last time through the window. A lot of planning had gone into our second expedition. I had paid several hundred dollars extra to fly to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York because it was one of the designated ports by the United States Fish and Wildlife Services for wildlife importation. Flying there also added extra travelling time for the trip. But all the planning and efforts went down the drain. We didn¡¦t find the Chief Goliath Beetle. We lost the Royal Goliath Beetle. I sat pitifully in New York waiting for the flight back to North Carolina. I could only imagine how happy I would be if we had found the Chief Goliath Beetle.B26sSK ©©øÂν׾ -- ©øÂν׾¡@¡@ $ It felt surreal to be home. The buildings, the streets, the climate, the plants, the smell in the air, everything was different from tropical West Africa, which my senses had been acclimatized to. I unlocked my apartment door with some apprehension and went straight to the beetle room to see if the Royal Goliath Beetles were alright. My pet sitter Rebecca had done a fantastic job; all the beetles were alive and well. I could not afford to lose this breeding colony. It was back to the drawing board. I needed to figure out exactly where the Chief Goliath Beetle still existed. I would not make a third expedition without first knowing its precise whereabouts. So far, we had explored every location purported to have the Chief Goliath Beetle in Ghana, except one: Bia National Park. I first read about it in 2014 in a scientific publication. It was documented that two specimens of the Chief Goliath Beetle were collected in 2011 in Bia National Park. There was also an Internet photo of a Chief Goliath Beetle purportedly from Debiso, a town adjacent Bia National Park. We never visited Bia National Park because it was simply too far away. Plus, it didn¡¦t fit the classical habitat of the Chief Goliath Beetle: coastal forest. Bia National Park was approximately 200 kilometers from the coast. The driving time from Accra to Bia National Park would be twelve hours. At this point, my options were boiled down to two: visit Ivory Coast or Bia National Park. If the presence of the Chief Goliath Beetle in Bia National Park could be definitively confirmed, then I would still prefer Ghana because there was no language barrier. We had plenty of time to do more research. The earliest we would revisit West Africa would be December of 2017 because we had already discovered on the second expedition that the best season for the Chief Goliath Beetle was winter and we also needed time to save up for the third expedition.]_nn/ ©©øÂν׾ -- ©øÂν׾¡@¡@ SUi)F. Our lives resumed normalcy. Andy returned to pet industry. Q-san returned to vegetable trading. I returned to veterinary medicine. In the meantime, we kept an eye out and an ear open for any information regarding the whereabouts of the Chief Goliath Beetle. Time flew. A year went by. In 2017, Mac and a group of European entomologists returned to Ankasa in July. Unfortunately, they did not see any Goliath Beetles. However, one of the entomologists got in touch with the entomologist who found the two Chief Goliath Beetles in Bia National Park in 2011. The time of collection was December. This confirmed the location and time of our third expedition to West Africa. December was just around the corner. We needed to get the ball rolling. Sadly, Q-san expressed his deepest regret that he would not be able to join the third expedition because he was still in debt. Each expedition to West Africa cost approximately $5,000 USD per person. We paid for everything out of our own pocket. We preferred not to rely on any donations or grants because we enjoyed complete autonomy and freedom. There was another challenge. Mac would be in South Africa in December with another group of scientists and would not be able to join us. Furthermore, travelling in December was always risky because flights were prone to cancellations due to severe weather conditions. But nothing would stop Andy and me. We had gone too far to stop now. The Royal Goliath Beetle was standing by. All we needed was one male Chief Goliath Beetle and we could solve the mystery of Nickel¡¦s Beetle forever. I contacted Ebenezer Alhassan of Koforidua Ecotourism again and he would be our guide for the third expedition to West Africa. On August 10, 2017, I bought my tickets. I would visit West Africa for the third time from December 12 to December 29 and spend Christmas in Bia National Park.2fN!' ©©øÂν׾ -- ©øÂν׾¡@¡@ gC There was no room for error for the third expedition. Everything had to be meticulously planned out. I paid Ebenezer to visit Bia National Park in advance from November 21 to November 25 so that we could get a solid idea of what the area was like and prepare accordingly. One of the most important things was lodging. The nearest lodging was in Debiso. Ebenezer found a perfect one. It was right across from the police station and had a backup generator. Ebenezer also advised that a powerful four-wheel drive was a must. It was the rainy season. Many roads had turned into mud. The bus that Ebenezer was on got stuck in the mud for an hour. All the passengers had to get off and push the bus in the rain! While Ebenezer was in Debiso, he also passed out photographs of the Chief Goliath Beetle to the villagers and asked them to spread the news. If we got lucky, another ¡§David¡¨ would be waiting for us when we arrived. I started paying close attention to the weather forecast one month out. To my relief, it didn¡¦t look like there was going to be snow around the time of my departure. But no calculation was perfect. There was a big scare just one day before my departure. The flight twenty four hours before mine got cancelled due to a snow storm in London. I thought for sure my flight would be cancelled, too. If multiple flights got cancelled, I might not be able to get a seat until days later, which would greatly affect my schedule, or even terminate my third expedition. I was greatly concerned because I had waited one and a half years for this trip. I didn¡¦t want to wait another year, not to mention all the lodging and car rental had already been paid in full in advance and the ongoing deforestation in West Africa. The chances of finding the Chief Goliath Beetle diminished with each passing day. I checked the flight status online frequently and prayed for the best. Thankfully, the snow subsided in time and my flight took off as scheduled. When I arrived in London, I could see some snow that had been pushed to the sides of the runway. I crossed my fingers that it wouldn¡¦t snow anymore. After waiting anxiously for six hours and thirty five minutes at London Heathrow Airport, Flight AA6415 finally took off for Accra. Now I was in the clear. The third expedition would materialize. But would the weather be good for my return flight? That was a worry for another day. For now, I would just focus on finding the Chief Goliath Beetle. After another six hours and thirty minutes, Accra¡¦s orange city lights entered my eyes through the windows. Alas, we met again, the mesmerizing tropical West Africa. I arrived in Accra for the third time on December 12, 2017 at 8:55 pm. I navigated through the airport with ease like an old horse that knew the way. The immigration officer was exceptionally friendly with a huge smile. He was very pleased that I chose to spend Christmas in Ghana. It was a foggy night about 29 degrees Celsius. For some reason, the luggage took one hour to come out on the conveyer belt. By the time Ebenezer took me to the motel in Koforidua, it was already midnight. In addition to Ebenezer, I also met his brothers Sylvester and Asamoah. We would all be going to Bia National Park. Andy was supposed to have arrived a few hours before me. However, there was a delay in his visa so he had to take a later flight. At one point, there was a possibility that Andy might not be able to join us.-s@; ©©øÂν׾ -- ©øÂν׾¡@¡@ 9 I woke up at 7:30 a.m. the next day to take a shower. Shockingly, our motel had hot water! It was Ebenezer¡¦s surprise for me because he knew how much I complained about cold showers. I enjoyed it as much as I could because I knew Bia had no hot water. After the unexpected and rejuvenating hot shower, I went to the dining hall for breakfast, also the first meal of the third expedition. It was toasted bread, omelet, and hot chocolate. After breakfast, Ebenezer took me to the bank to exchange some of my US dollars for Ghanaian cedis. It was 9:26 a.m. There was a market nearby. The streets were busy with grocery shoppers getting ready to make lunch and students in uniforms on their way to school. It was good to be back in Africa. I frequently thought about it when I was in the US, especially when work got intense. They were two different worlds with different worries. Back home, I worried about work and paying bills. In Africa, I didn¡¦t have to think about work; I just focused on chasing my dream, which was a form of stress nonetheless. Now that I had returned, would it finally give me what I had been looking for in all these years? This time around, I didn¡¦t ask Q-san to get another fortune stick from Xingtian Temple. It had already been another 1.5 years. Surely it was time. We walked around town for a little bit before it was time to pick up Andy from the airport. This was my first winter in Ghana. It was clearly hotter than July. Today¡¦s temperature was about 31 degrees Celsius. I felt good about this third expedition. They said third time¡¦s a charm. We got to the airport at 11:33 a.m. Unlike most airports, Accra¡¦s Kotoka International Airport did not allow any non-passengers to enter the terminal. We had to wait for Andy outside in the heat. Both Andy and I were a lot calmer than in 2015. By now, we knew our way through the airport and Ghana Immigration. There was nothing to worry about. Andy exited the terminal at 12:30 p.m. We gave each other a big long hug. We were really looking forward to the upcoming adventure. We drove back to Koforidua and immediately began preparing for tomorrow¡¦s departure. We bought large quantities of storable foods such as cookies, canned sardines, canned tuna, rice, etc. We also ended up buying many fruits because they all looked so delicious. We bought mangoes, pineapples, bananas, papayas, and oranges. We got all sweaty from the shopping and packing under the winter Ghanaian sun. There was nothing more satisfying than a soothing shower and nice meal afterwards. There was a nice restaurant within walking distance from the motel. We got there at 7:51 p.m. We had fried chicken, fried rice, Shito, and Malta Guinness for the first time in a year and a half. Memories of the good old days came back. We really wished Q-san was here with us. It would be a very early departure tomorrow. We had to leave by 5:30 a.m. as the drive to Bia National Park would be twelve hours or more. I was very excited and feeling optimistic in bed. After all these years of planning and waiting, I felt it was time to go home with some Chief Goliath Beetles!@tk, ©©øÂν׾ -- ©øÂν׾¡@¡@ 5dJ It still boggled my mind that no Chief Goliath Beetle was found in the Ankasa Forest Reserve, despite Mac revisited it in 2017. It had the highest rainfall in all of Ghana and bordered Ivory Coast. It was geographically perfect. It was surprising to me that there were records of the Chief Goliath Beetle in Bia National Park but not Ankasa. But we would go with science. If Bia National Park was where the Chief Goliath Beetle was found, then it was Bia where we would go. On December 14, 2017, we departed Koforidua in darkness. We saw many scenes along the way. There was a very large truck with an overload of charcoal that was bulging out on all sides. I was surprised the tires and road could take such a brutal beating. Sylvester said that was why so many roads had potholes. There was another very large truck carrying old growth timber. These were blatant reminders that deforestation was ongoing. On the lighter note, we drove through an extremely busy market. Anything you could imagine was sold here. It took us a good while to pass through because there were too many shoppers and mobile vendors on the road. At 10:24 a.m., we arrived in Kumasi, Ghana¡¦s second largest city. In the past, it was known as the Garden City due to its lush rainforest. Historic literature had documented Kumasi as a locality for the Chief Goliath Beetle. Whether or not the information was accurate didn't matter anymore. Today, Kumasi was fully developed with absolutely no forest in sight. It was depressing to drive through the former Garden City which potentially harbored the Chief Goliath Beetle in the past. Had I been here a few hundred years earlier, the story might have been different and we might have crossed paths. We experienced heavy traffic in Kumasi. It took us about one hour to drive through it. After we left Kumasi, plant life gradually increased. Metropolis transitioned into grasslands, which eventually transitioned into shrubbery. Along the way, we drove by a sawmill selling lumber on the side of the road. It was difficult to not think about deforestation and the ultimate fate of the Chief Goliath Beetle. Due to the time lost to the traffic congestion in Kumasi, we decided not to stop for lunch. It was a tough decision because we drove by many delicious-looking restaurants! We ended up just eating cookies and snacks in the car. At 3:36 p.m., we came upon a roadside sign for Bia National Park. We were very excited that we were approaching our final destination. I felt an unprecedented amount of optimism because we were going to the right place at the right time. At 4:14 p.m., we finally came upon a forest zone. What was in front of us appeared to be a mature forest with some trees over twenty meters. Although we were still more than an hour away from Bia, I wondered if we could find the Chief Goliath Beetle in this forest. But we didn't have time to check. We needed to get to Bia before dark. We did not want to be stranded in a forest at night. Not long after, we began to see disturbing scenes. Large trucks carrying old growth timber passed us. The trucks were so big and heavy that their tires kicked up clouds of dust intense enough to blur our visibility. With this trend of deforestation, the Chief Goliath Beetle was doomed to extinction. We had got to find it and propagate the species in captivity before it was too late. As I looked around, all the plants on the sides of the road were stained brown. During times of rain, vehicle tires would splash mud as they struggled on this path. This was also where Ebenezer's bus got stranded. We were lucky the road was dry and easy to travel. The traffic to Bia was light. Very few people visited Bia due to its remoteness. Perhaps this allowed the Chief Goliath Beetle to cling on. Finally, after driving more than twelve hours, we arrived at the motel at 5:43 p.m. There were no restaurants in Debiso that served hot meals. We would have to do our own cooking for the entirety of the stay. We came prepared. We had brought a propane burner and kitchenware from Koforidua. For our first meal in Bia, we ate steamed rice, canned tuna, canned beans, canned mushrooms, and fresh pineapple from Koforidua. The temperature today was 33 degrees Celsius, which made the cold shower much more tolerable. My bathroom for the next twelve days was not in the best shape; the doorknob was missing and the toilet seat was heavily fragmented. If not careful, my flesh would be caught in the cracks. But I didn¡¦t care. The only thing on my mind was finding the Chief Goliath Beetle."# ©©øÂν׾ -- ©øÂν׾¡@¡@ ]3O|0, I woke up at 6:30 a.m. and eagerly looked out the window of my room. The first morning of a new place always gave me a sense of mystery and anticipation. It looked right into the backyard of the neighbor. There were quite a few trees in the yard. I saw a big mango tree to the right, an oil palm in the middle, a citrus tree to the left, and a papaya tree to the far left among others. In the middle of the yard was a home made of cement and a tin roof. Next to the home was a small pavilion for cooking with firewood. I wondered what the owner did for a living. Was he a farmer, a shop owner, or something else? Soon afterwards Andy and I met up for breakfast. Our diet in Bia was very simple. For breakfast, we would each have bread, a can of sardine or tuna, a hard-boiled egg, and some fruit (mango, papaya, pineapple, banana, or orange). For lunch, we would each have bread, a can of fish, a hard-boiled egg, and an orange in the jungle. For dinner, we would have steamed rice, stir fried onion with canned sardines, and some fruit. On the other hand, the diet of Ebenezer, Asamoah and Sylvester was much more interesting! They bought dishes from local vendors daily. Although they smelled wonderful and looked delicious, Andy and I were hesitant to try them because they were not freshly cooked foods with a high temperature. Andy and I could not risk developing diarrhea early on the expedition. I said to myself that if we found the Chief Goliath Beetle, then I would try all the local foods in Debiso holding nothing back. After breakfast, we met up with Vincent, a park ranger from Bia National Park. He had arranged an activity for us before officially visiting the national park. He instructed us to buy some bread and follow his motorcycle. After driving through some dirt roads, we arrived at a small lake. We got out of the car and followed him to the edge of the lake. I was not sure what we were doing. I looked at the lake but couldn¡¦t see anything because the water was murky. Then he threw some bread into the lake. Suddenly, countless catfish came to feed on the bread. We also threw in some bread. All the catfish in the lake came to the surface. It became a feeding frenzy and the catfish were splashing water everywhere. I was very confused. Bia was a remote rural area with limited resources. Catfish were an excellent source of protein. How come these catfish didn¡¦t get eaten by the villagers? Vincent said these catfish had magical powers and were worshipped by the locals. Whoever ate one would be plagued by very bad luck. He brought us here to pray for good luck before we set foot in the primitive jungles. I was all about following local customs. I fed the catfish all the bread we had and prayed for safety and good luck. I, however, did not specifically pray for the Chief Goliath Beetle because I didn¡¦t want to appear greedy. From all the fables I had read as a child, gods and fairies never granted greedy people what they desired. With the catfish fed and catfish god hopefully content, we headed for Bia National Park¡¦s headquarters. We were greeted by Richard, the head of Bia National Park. He welcomed us and gave us a rundown of its history. Most notable was Bia National Park used to be the best location to study chimpanzees in West Africa. Through years of habituation, the chimps were trained to be not afraid of humans. This allowed researchers to reliably find them and study them up close. But all this changed during a civil unrest. Habituated chimpanzees were killed off during the civil conflict. Today, chimpanzees in Bia National Park were extremely elusive and difficult to study. Richard said we might see sleeping nests, but the chances of an actual chimpanzee sighting would be close to zero. After we paid our admission fees, Richard gave us the green light to officially enter the much anticipated Bia National Park.4$ ©©øÂν׾ -- ©øÂν׾¡@¡@ 5RQ- The European entomologist who personally collected the two Chief Goliath Beetles in Bia National Park in 2011 gave us some advice prior to our departure for Africa. There were a few camps within Bia National Park. In between these camp sites were dirt roads. He said the best strategy would be checking the trees very carefully along these dirt roads. This was how he discovered the two female specimens of the Chief Goliath Beetle. Unfortunately, it was not clear on what species of tree the two specimens were found. However, the tree was believed to be only five to six meters tall, which would be well within the reach of our 14-meter insect rods. The drive from Debiso to the entrance of Bia National Park was approximately twenty five minutes. When we got there, our spirit fell from heaven to hell. There were no dirt roads. Right by the entrance was a cabin in which stationed one park ranger. Today five eagerly came to greet us as they got word that visitors were coming, which they rarely got. I asked them where the dirt roads were. Due to lack of visitors and funding, the dirt roads had been completely engulfed by vegetation over the past six years. The general contour of the roads could still be made out, but they were buried in dense bushes. We were utterly unprepared for this devastating news, which shattered our original plan. What were we going to do now? One of the rangers asked us what we were here for. We showed them a photograph of a pair of the Chief Goliath Beetle. Shockingly, one of the rangers said ¡§Goliathus cacicus.¡¨ What the fuck?! He knew the Chief Goliath Beetle by its Latin scientific name! Then he said, ¡§Claude Joly.¡¨ Yes! The European entomologist who visited Bia National Park in 2011 was Claude Joly. Wellington, the name of the park ranger, was exactly right. He knew exactly what he was talking about. I was stunned beyond words. It was truly an emotional rollercoaster. One moment I was devastated and the next I was overjoyed. I immediately asked Wellington if he remembered where the Chief Goliath Beetle was found. He said yes! The location was approximately eight kilometers from the entrance of Bia National Park. Andy and I were so ecstatic. The moment we had been waiting for in all these years was finally coming. This time we would go home with the Chief Goliath Beetle. Eight kilometers was a lot to walk, especially with water and equipment, not to mention all the vegetation in the way. Round trip would be sixteen kilometers! We looked at the road by the entrance. It didn¡¦t look good. But we had a four-wheel drive. We could probably do it. We decided to drive through the undergrowth. Wellington opened the park gate and I felt like we were driving into Jurassic Park!T|U ©©øÂν׾ -- ©øÂν׾¡@¡@ c?s,w& For the next few hours, our vehicle drove through thick shrubbery. We could constantly hear the branches beating against all sides of our car. However, we were oblivious that the drive shaft under the car was simultaneously reeling in plants. Suddenly, Andy alerted that his seat was getting very hot. Just when everybody was wondering what the hell was going on, the car started to smoke! Everybody freaked out, jumped out, and ran away from the car. We watched from a distance in fear that the car might explode or something. There was white smoke coming out of the bottom of the car. Nat (our driver) and Wellington put out the smoke by frantically squirting precious bottled water onto the bottom of our four-wheel drive. As it turned out, the rotating drive shaft had reeled in and trapped many plants; the constant friction eventually set them on fire! After the car finally cooled down, we spent the next hour pulling out as many plants as we could from the drive shaft and wheels. It was a difficult task. We had to crawl under the car to do so. We were sandwiched between the vehicle and the prickly scrubs. The eight-kilometer target was not too far away at this point. We decided to walk there. It was mostly sunny today with a temperature of 33 degrees Celsius, clearly warmer than in July. December appeared to be the season for insects in southwestern Ghana as butterflies were ubiquitous. Things looked promising. Along the way, we came across a gorgeous swamp teeming with all kinds of water plants and surrounded by tall trees. We stopped to admire its beauty and took photographs. Suddenly, Wellington looked nervous and told us to get going. As I looked around, there were fresh large dungs. They came from forest elephants. Wellington later explained to us that forest elephants were known to attack and kill people in Ghana. Finally, at 2:42 p.m., we reached a small hill. Wellington said the two female specimens of the Chief Goliath Beetle were collected on this hill. I could feel the adrenaline rush. My heart started to pound. All the years of waiting was finally coming to an end. Wellington took us to the tree where the Chief Goliath Beetles were found. Andy and I were so nervous. We checked everywhere but there was nothing. Unfortunately, this tree did not have an active sap flow so no insects were attracted by it. Needless to say, we were very disappointed. The tree was not a Vernonia tree, either. Perhaps the Chief Goliath Beetle drank tree sap from multiple species of trees. There was another possibility. It had been six years. Wellington said he could not be one hundred percent sure that this was the tree. It was getting late and we were very far from the entrance of the park. Returning safely would be the top priority now. We knew the car would trap more plants on the way back. However, we had already moistened the bottom of the car, so it shouldn¡¦t initiate another fire. After a few hours of driving, we finally made it out of Bia National Park. But we were still twenty five minutes away from Debiso. It was 5:30 p.m. and starting to get dark. Instead of stopping and removing all the trapped plants, Nat decided that we should not get stuck in the dark in remote Africa. He sped up and headed for Debiso. After about twenty minutes, Nat kept looking at the rear view mirror. His facial expression looked very strange. Suddenly, he slammed on the break and told everyone to jump out of the car. I had no idea what was going on. It was very confusing and scary. As I rushed out in the African darkness, there was a trail of sparks on the dirt road! Our car was on fire again! But there was no water left. By the grace of God, there was a pond next to us. We all ran to the pond to fill our empty water bottles like gazelles desperate for water. While we were doing so, images of crocodile attacks plagued my head. Thankfully, they didn¡¦t materialize and we extinguished the burning plants trapped under the car fairly quickly. For the next hour, with our cellphones as flashlights, we crammed ourselves under the car and patiently cleared the car of tangled plants. Some of the vegetation had already been turned into charcoal. As we worked, we could hear mosquitoes buzzing around us. I prayed none of them carried malaria. After we were all done and turned off the flashlights, we were pleasantly surprised that in addition to mosquitoes, we were also surrounded by fireflies. Without light pollution, the stars and fireflies were a sight to behold. Our first full day in Bia did not go well. Not only were all the dirt roads in the national park gone, we nearly burned down the rental car twice! What were we going to do for the rest of the expedition? The original plan of exploring all the dirt roads had gone down the drain.lj!V ©©øÂν׾ -- ©øÂν׾¡@¡@ HI( Before the third expedition, I had done extensive research on the distribution of the Chief Goliath Beetle. One locality that repeatedly appeared on collection labels was Akoupe, Ivory Coast. It was only seventy kilometers from the southwestern tip of Bia National Park. That was another reason that convinced me to visit Bia. If Akoupe had the Chief Goliath Beetle, then Bia National Park must also have it. After dinner, Andy and I decided that we must travel to Akatiso tomorrow, a town situated on the southwestern tip of Bia National Park. People there must know the Chief Goliath Beetle. Akatiso was an extremely interesting town. The eastern half belonged to Ghana. The western half belonged to Ivory Coast. It literally sat right on the boarder of the two countries. Prior to our arrival, Ebenezer had already passed out photographs of the Chief Goliath Beetle to the residents of Akatiso. A few days after his visit, a woman called Ebenezer and told him that she knew the Chief Goliath Beetle. Now that we could no longer drive in Bia National Park safely, this gave us a reason to visit Akatiso sooner than later. On December 16, 2017 at 7:54 a.m., we left Debiso for Akatiso. The distance was only 40.2 kilometers, but it took us approximately two hours to arrive. The entire route was dirt road with many potholes. We had to swerve like a snake to avoid the defects. It was 10:07 a.m. when we arrived in Akatiso. Asamoah called the woman who told Ebenezer that she knew the Chief Goliath Beetle. She told us that she was preparing lunch for her family and therefore could not come to meet us. Instead, she wanted us to go to her home. Shockingly, she said she had a Chief Goliath Beetle for us! However, her home was in western Akatiso, which belonged to Ivory Coast! We looked around. The border was nothing but a short wooden fence with an open gate. Villagers crossed the border as if it didn¡¦t exist. No immigration officers were seen. The locals told us it was no problem. One of them even volunteered to guide us to the woman¡¦s home. Just when we were about to cross the border, a Ghanaian immigration officer stepped out of a nearby hut and stopped us. Then he checked our passports to make sure that everything was in order. We were very lucky that the immigration officer stopped us in time. Had we crossed the border and been caught by an Ivorian immigration officer, we would have been taken to jail for illegal entry as we didn¡¦t have any visa for Ivory Coast. Alternatively, had we been stopped after we returned to Ghana, we would also have been taken to jail because our Ghana visa was single-entry only. Things definitely hadn¡¦t been going well. On the first full day in Bia we almost burned down the car. On the second day we almost went to jail. We decided to wait for the woman on the Ghanaian side of Akatiso. We decided to use this time to pass out more photographs of the Chief Goliath Beetle. We came across a popular grocery store with good business. The name of the owner was Joseph. He allowed us to post photographs of the Chief Beetle on his door so that residents would know that we were looking for it. We also paid him to use the community microphones to announce that we are looking for the Chief Goliath Beetle. We were doing the best we could with the resources we had. A few hours later, the woman informed us that she was coming. I was extremely excited but reserved at the same time. After all, the experience in Mesomago taught me that misidentification was entirely possible. Finally, the women crossed the border. She was perhaps in her forties and wearing a white top, a yellow skirt, and sandals while holding a small plastic container. I assumed that was where the beetle was. My heart was pounding so hard when I peeked into the container. It was a female rhinoceros beetle. Some females of the Chief Goliath Beetle were brown and I could easily see how the villagers could confuse the two. We thanked her efforts and gave her a tip. We decided to spend the rest of the day distributing photographs of the Chief Goliath Beetle. As we drove back from Akatiso to Debiso, we handed out photographs in every village along the way. Hopefully someone would call us with good news before the third expedition ran out of time. But bad news came one after another. Later I found out that there were two Akoupe in Ivory Coast. The one with an abundance of the Chief Goliath Beetle was near Abidjan. It was about 5 p.m. when we returned to Debiso. We spent the rest of the daylight hours passing out photographs of the Chief Goliath Beetle to the local villagers. Very quickly, we were surrounded by children, who had never seen foreigners. We came prepared. Andy and I started to take out mini chocolate bars from our backpacks. Not surprisingly, these children were getting their first taste of chocolate, despite cacao plantations having a heavy presence in Bia. The children also had a strong interest in Andy¡¦s smartphone. Andy made a recording of them and played the video back to them. Seeing the big smiles on their faces made me temporarily forget about my worries.r;*b
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