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哇 }8z
8 年過去了\r5D
期間發生了很多事情YiN
最終達成了目標=+V
我開始撰寫回憶錄, 但是不知何時才會寫完}
目前有些初步的寫作, 貼出來和大家分享|[y8E
我用的英文並不複雜, 可以用 Google 翻譯, 基本上不會太奇怪G=|
©昆蟲論壇 -- 昆蟲論壇 f
There was an insect so rare that even the National Museum of the United States didn’t have one (by contrast, it had multiple specimens of the extinct Passenger Pigeon). People weren’t even sure what it was. Some thought it was a species that had gone extinct. Some believed it was a very rare variation of an existing species. Still some speculated it was a hybrid of two existing species. There was no telling. It was an entomological enigma that had persisted since 1887. Multiple international teams of scientists were racing to solve the mystery. It was the ultimate collectible for any insect collector. A specimen of it would cost between $8,000 to $10,000 USD, if anyone was willing to part with one.JoSYi
©昆蟲論壇 -- 昆蟲論壇 -H:
The year was 1997. The season was autumn. Do you remember what you were doing? I was an oblivious college freshman reading a book about Goliath Beetles in my dorm room. That was when I was first exposed to the aforementioned entomological legend. As I looked at the photos in the book, I sank into a deep trance as if hypnotized and was then overtaken by an unexplained urge to solve this puzzle. I had absolutely no idea that it would become an integral part of my life for the next 25 years and even take me to the deepest jungles of West Africa for multiple years. It changed my life….V[^0
©昆蟲論壇 -- 昆蟲論壇 iU
To begin with, this mystery creature was a giant beetle. The Czech entomologist Otakar Nickerl in 1887 named it after the Greek titan that was condemned by Zeus to support the heavens on his shoulders for eternity. It was given the name Goliathus atlas. If something had two giants in its name, it must be huge. Indeed, Goliathus atlas was one of the largest insects on the planet. It could reach a length of over 10 centimeters and outweigh several mice. Even monkeys were afraid of hunting them.xZQE?
©昆蟲論壇 -- 昆蟲論壇 Pf
There were multiple ways to explore the true identity of Nickerl’s Beetle. The fastest way would be a DNA analysis. It would tell us if Nickerl’s Beetle was a hybrid, a rare aberration of the Royal Goliath Beetle (Goliathus regius), or an independent species. Unfortunately, this could not be done. The last known Nickerl’s Beetle was collected in the 1980’s. The DNA would have been too degraded. The massive deforestations in West Africa and various civil wars in the region were reasons why the Nickerl’s Beetle was never seen again. Another option was to create Nickerl’s Beetle experimentally (sounds like science fiction, right?). The plan was to cross a Royal Goliath Beetle to a Chief Goliath Beetle (Goliathus cacicus) and see if the offspring was a Nickerl’s Beetle. That sounded very simple. But it took 25 years to achieve…q
©昆蟲論壇 -- 昆蟲論壇 %i"
First of all, nobody knew how to breed Goliath Beetles. Even though Goliath Beetles were Scarab beetles, they did not behave like Scarabs. The larvae of Scarab beetles ate rotten wood. When the larvae of Goliath Beetles were fed only rotten wood, they all died. Nobody could breed Goliath Beetles for decades until the American entomologist Orin McMonigle came along. In the late 1990’s, he discovered the larvae of Goliath Beetles ate meat. It was a revolutionary discovery. Nobody would have thought a wood-eating family of beetles contained carnivores. For the first time, the life cycle of Goliath Beetles could be completed in captivity. However, there were still many hurdles in the breeding of Goliath Beetles. The most famous was the “wandering phase.” When the larvae of Goliath Beetles became a few months old, they stopped eating and wandered until they died. The few that survived to adulthood were very small and weak, often unable to produce offspring. It was impossible to keep Goliath Beetles beyond a few generations in captivity. Every year, wild Goliath Beetles had to be imported from Africa.A2)TR
©昆蟲論壇 -- 昆蟲論壇 DG7
This went on for 15 years. One day, I was examining some dried specimens of Goliath Beetles from Ivory Coast. I noticed there were tiny traces of red powder on these beetles. I scraped them off and they looked very much like clay to me. I then mixed them with some water and it was confirmatory. Goliath Beetles needed clay to reliably complete their life cycle. The wandering phase was eliminated. Starting from 2014, Goliath Beetles could be propagated in captivity indefinitely.}Npy)
©昆蟲論壇 -- 昆蟲論壇 =z)G%K
The stage had been set. It was time to hybridize the Royal Goliath Beetle and Chief Goliath Beetle. But there was a problem. There were only the Linnaeus’ Goliath Beetle (Goliathus goliatus) and the Eastern Goliath Beetle (Goliathus orientalis) left in captivity. The last import of the Royal Goliath Beetle was in the early 2000’s. The last import of the Chief Goliath Beetle was in 2012. I talked to numerous people who used to import them with hopes to import more. Unfortunately, the forests in which people used to catch them either got deforested for agriculture or burned down during the civil wars. I felt I had gone too far to give up now. I had at my disposal all the skills needed to successfully breed Goliath Beetles. The century old mystery was on the verge of being solved. It was like a cook had finally discovered the perfect recipe, but the ingredients were no longer available at the supermarket. In a situation like this, any serious chef would travel to the places of origin (let it be farms, oceans, or mountains) to obtain them. At this point, the next step became apparent: I had to go to Africa to find my ingredients…H
©昆蟲論壇 -- 昆蟲論壇 X`(]:
I could not say Africa was entirely foreign to me. I did visit South Africa once as a child in 1987, but I didn’t remember much because I was only eight years old. It was a time of economic prosperity. Taiwan’s stock market took off sharply and my parents signed our family up for an African safari because they knew how much I loved animals. Our tour group stayed in 5-star hotels and watched African big games on jeeps in the savannahs. We hardly did any walking. When we were not on jeeps, we were on luxurious tour buses. Every day we ate gourmet meals in fancy restaurants. I was certain that my South African experience would be entirely different from looking for Goliath Beetles in deep jungles of West Africa. It had been almost 30 years. Africa had changed. Memory had faded. In practicality, I had never been to Africa.(xNXM
©昆蟲論壇 -- 昆蟲論壇 S
The country most famous for the Royal Goliath Beetle and Chief Goliath Beetle was Ivory Coast, also known as Cote d’Ivoire. The vast majority of specimens collected in the past came from this West African nation. Going there verged on the impossible for me. One, it was a French-speaking country, which I spoke none. Two, during the civil wars, almost all the foreign nationals left the country. Cote d’Ivoire was no longer as perceptive and hospitable to outsiders. On top of that, the Royal Goliath Beetle and Chief Goliath Beetle lived in primitive jungles far away from big cities. Local villagers were even more conservative. It would not have been a good idea for me to travel to Ivory Coast. What about the neighboring nations? There was Liberia to the west and Ghana to the east, both English-speaking countries. From Google satellite maps, Liberia had the lushest tropical rainforests in all of West Africa. Furthermore, historical documents from colonial times wrote that the Grain Coast (former name of Liberia) abounded with the Chief Goliath Beetle. Liberia seemed to be the most promising place outside of Ivory Coast to rediscover the Royal Goliath Beetle and Chief Goliath Beetle. However, there were two major concerns. One, Liberia had multiple outbreaks of Ebola Virus. Two, Liberia also underwent civil wars and might not be the best place for foreign visitors. This only left Ghana. Ghana, on the other hand, was perhaps the safest, friendliest, and most politically stable nation in all of Africa. The only downside was Ghana only had a few records of the Royal Goliath Beetle and Chief Goliath Beetle having been found there. Ghana it was. I had decided to travel to Ghana to find my ingredients.Q@
©昆蟲論壇 -- 昆蟲論壇 rOQE
Exploring Ghana was by no means going to be easy, despite its friendly people. I was not going to tourist destinations with luxurious amenities. I was going to primitive jungles, where malaria, sleeping sickness, venomous snakes, and many other diseases lurked. The biggest challenge of all was I had no idea where the beetles lived. In addition, where to say (camping, home stay, motel?), how to travel (taxi, bus, motorcycle, rental car?), and when to arrive (which season?) were among the many logistical hurdles to figure out before the trip. Goliath Beetles were incredibly difficult to find. Many beetles were attracted to lights at night. All a collector had to do was turn on some lights at the edge of a forest, then all kinds of beetles would fly to the lights. Not the Goliath Beetles. They were not attracted to lights because they were diurnal. They only went to certain species of trees where they drank their naturally flowing sap during a certain season. Basically, I had to be standing under the right species of tree at the right time of the year in order to catch a Goliath Beetle. That was incredibly challenging. Just when my head was about to explode, as if by miracle, the Canadian biologist Malcom Stark appeared out of nowhere. He had lived in Ghana for numerous years and had extensive knowledge of its tropical rainforests. Mac advertised on a popular insect website that he was offering guided trips to the jungles of Ghana. The timing couldn’t have been better. I immediately contacted him. I told him that I was looking for the Royal Goliath Beetle and Chief Goliath Beetle. To my shock, he told me that he had personally caught the Royal Goliath Beetle in 2007. At that moment, I felt God definitely existed.zVNm
©昆蟲論壇 -- 昆蟲論壇 D
For the next year or so, we talked about everything there was to talk about about Ghana. Mac caught 9 specimens of the Royal Goliath Beetle in August of 2007. But August would not work for me because I would be in summer school. June was the only time that I could do it. In our preparation for my maiden trip to West Africa, we talked about what vaccines to get, what medications to bring, insect repellent strategies, how to apply for a Ghana entry visa, how to apply for a wildlife research permit, how to apply for a wildlife export permit, how much cash to bring, where to visit, how many days to visit, what kind of lodging, what kind of transportation, and many others. I did as much preparation as I could, but it was still very scary. Mac lived in Canada. I lived in the United States. We would not be travelling together. He would arrive in Ghana first to prearrange lodging, transportation, food stocking, permits from Ghana Wildlife Department, etc. When I arrived, he would pick me up at the airport. That was the scary part. What if Mac didn’t show up for any reason? I would be stranded alone, helpless, in an absolutely unfamiliar environment. That was fear.1
©昆蟲論壇 -- 昆蟲論壇 xt
Many other people were also searching for the Royal Goliath Beetle and Chief Goliath Beetle. I thought it would be a great idea to bring some friends along for various reasons including cost sharing and increased safety. I sent invitations to about 30 insect enthusiasts. In the end, only 2 accepted the offer. One of them was Andy Cheng, who operated an insect pet shop in Taiwan. The other was Chang En Li, nicked named Q-san, who was a vegetable importer/exporter in Taiwan and a beetle lover. The remaining 28 declined due to the various risks involved in African travel. We decided to arrive in Accra, the capital of Ghana, on June 13 of 2015. After picking all the flights on the computer, I hesitated for a few minutes. That final click of the mouse would be the point of no return. Possible scenarios started to run through my head: I could come home with dream Goliath Beetles; I could come home with nothing; I could get injured in Africa; I could even die in Africa. I had gone too far to stop now. I entered my credit card number, closed my eyes, and clicked the mouse. It was a done deal. I could not believe I was really going to Africa to pursue my dream. It felt surreal. In the next few minutes, I also purchased accidental death insurance with 1 million dollar coverage. If anything were to happen to me in Africa, I wanted to make sure that my wife and daughter would have no financial concerns.U,!eJy
©昆蟲論壇 -- 昆蟲論壇 6!Q}
In the next few months, I prepared my luggage. It was a mixture of excitement and anxiety. I packed insect nets, an insect rod, insect repellents, various kinds of dry foods (mainly cookies and granola bars), various kinds of clothing (long sleeves, short sleeves, jackets, pants, shorts, rain ponchos, hats, socks, boxers, etc.), towels, rubber boots, dental floss, toothbrush, toothpaste, plastic containers to keep Goliath Beetles, first aid kit, Doxycycline (Malarial prevention), miscellaneous OTC drugs such as Tylenol and Advil, flashlights, camera, electrical socket/plug adapters (USA is 120V; Ghana is 230V), sunscreen, etc. I rehearsed over and over in my mind what I might need in Africa, fearing I might miss something important. Going to Africa to look for bugs was definitely the craziest thing I had done. Of all the things I packed, there was nothing more important than the insect rod. It was a retractable 18-meter fiberglass rod. Goliath Beetles lived in the canopy of frequently giant trees. Without a sufficiently long insect rod with a net attached to the end, the chances of catch a Goliath Beetle would be very slim. I had the insect rod specially shipped to me from Taiwan. Even though Andy and Q-san would also bring insect rods, I definitely needed one for myself in case they couldn’t make it to Africa for whatever reason or their rods got damaged during transport. Our success depended on a functional insect rod. I also ordered a special transport case to protect the insect rod during the long trip to Africa.`^
©昆蟲論壇 -- 昆蟲論壇 NH{'o^
The eve of June 12, 2015 came. My flight would leave for Africa in less than 24 hours. I didn’t sleep well at all. I woke up frequently to check my text messages. Andy and Q-san were getting ready to leave Taiwan as well. They informed me that they both got to the airport early with plenty of time to spare. Everything looked great. I slept lightly, waking up periodically to check on text messages from them. I kept anticipating what it would be like to see their familiar faces in a totally unfamiliar environment. I hadn’t seen them for years. I couldn’t believe our next reunion would be in an exotic continent. At around 3 am, a huge emergency happened. I casually turned on my phone and what I saw shocked me. Q-san had been denied boarding! How could this be? He had his Taiwan passport. As it turned out, they had to fly to China for a transfer flight as there were no direct flights from Taiwan to Ghana. China did not recognize Taiwan as a country. As a result, the Taiwan passport was not recognized by China. The only way for Q-san to board the flight to China would be with his domestic Taiwan citizen identification card, which he didn’t carry with him. Even before the trip to Africa, we were forced to make a very difficult decision: either Andy traveled alone to Ghana or they both stayed behind. After a stressful discussion, we decided that Andy would travel first because there was no guarantee that there would be two seats available 24 hours later. It was a scary decision for everyone. Now everybody was travelling alone. It was the most frightening for Q-san because he didn’t speak English. Now he needed to travel from Taiwan to China to Ethiopia to Ghana all by himself. How would he manage the transfer flight at Ethiopia’s Addis Abba Bole International Airport and the immigration at Ghana’s Accra Kotoka International Airport with no English? We had no idea. We just knew that it was an opportunity of a lifetime and that we must push forward regardless./N42~
©昆蟲論壇 -- 昆蟲論壇 rh{
So Andy flew into the unknown alone. Q-san went home to pick up his Taiwan citizen identification card. And I started calling Mac frantically. He told me not to worry. He was friends with the management of Ethiopian Airlines. He would make sure to get Q-san a seat on the next flights to Africa. I would lose contact with Andy and Q-san for the next 28 hours because we would all be on different flights at different times. The only times I would get updates from them would be when I check text messages during my transfer times in Boston and Amsterdam. My flight to Boston was 5 pm with Delta Airlines Flight 3733. The taxi arrived at 2:30 pm. I got into the taxi and closed the door. That was the official beginning of my maiden trip to West Africa. I thought to myself, “Oh my God, this is really happening. I can’t believe it!” It was a mixture of great joy and anxiety. There was a part of me that wondered if I would see America again. The familiar domestic flight from North Carolina to Boston was just under two hours. Very soon, I landed in Boston Logan International Airport. In another two hours and thirty three minutes, I would board KLM Flight 6016 to Amsterdam. The flight to Amsterdam was just under 7 hours. Up until this point, the atmosphere on both flights was nothing out of the norm for me; it was Western. I had never been to Amsterdam before. When the plane began to descend, there was a sense of excitement. Unfortunately, I couldn’t see much because it was a rainy day and clouds were blocking the city from view. My transfer time in Amsterdam was almost five hours, so I walked all around the airport and checked out all the gift shops. There were a few stores selling tulip-related souvenirs. My next flight was KLM Flight 589. As the boarding time approached, that was when my journey officially transitioned from Western to African. African culture came to life at the gate! The vast majority of passengers were Africans. I could see African clothing; I could hear African music; I could hear African dialects; I could smell African food. It was fantastic!v@'<@+
©昆蟲論壇 -- 昆蟲論壇 ;
The flight from Amsterdam to Accra was six hours and thirty minutes. During the flight, I kept thinking about what awaited me in Africa. Would they be good or bad? I wondered how it would feel to see a living Goliath Beetle in the jungles. Would I scream? Would I cry? Would I faint? I repeatedly turned my in-flight entertainment screen to the map function. As I saw the airplane icon got closer and closer to Accra, my heart pounded faster and harder. Finally, I felt the air pressure changing in my ears. I knew we had begun our descent. It was about 8 pm on June 13, 2015. It was already dark, but it was a clear day. I could see a faint orange glow outside the window. It must be from the city lights of Accra! I was sitting in an aisle seat. I sat as straight as I could and extended my neck as much as I could to look outside and down the window. I could not believe it; I was looking at Africa with my own eyes. I pinched myself to make sure that I was not dreaming (yes, I had many times in the past dreamed about going to Africa and woke up disappointed realizing it was only a dream). Not long after, a strong vibration shook my entire body. We landed. At last, after all these years, I was physically connected to Africa, the motherland of all humankind. The airplane taxied for some minutes before it stopped. Then the gate opened. I could feel the humid air flow into the cabin. Oh my God, I was breathing Africa!I?3,
©昆蟲論壇 -- 昆蟲論壇 c@
Now that I had landed, I eagerly turned on my phone, anxiously waiting for Andy’s messages to pop up. He should have landed hours ago. As expected, the phone vibrated to signal multiple messages were waiting for me. Mac had already picked up Andy and transported him to the motel, where he was waiting for me. What a relief. This was what Andy’s text message read, “Ghana’s Immigration was absolutely terrifying. All the interrogations were done in darkness. It was psychologically distressing. I want you to be prepared.” That sounded very scary. Maybe that was Ghana’s strategy to get all passengers to tell the truth by applying pressure on them. After all, illegal immigrants and smuggling were real issues at airports around the world. After some waiting, passengers began to slowly deplane. When I got to the exit of the aircraft, I eagerly looked outside. It was night time, so I really couldn’t see much, only some scattered airport lights. Still, I was plenty excited. I had finally arrived in the land where my dream laid. For the first time in my life, I had a real opportunity to realize the dream. But I was ready to accept anything. Even if the trip failed to find any Goliath Beetles, I would still be happy that I did the best I could. Like a flock of sheep, I followed the crowd. We walked down the stairs and waited on the tarmac for buses to arrive and take us to the immigration building. I tried to experience what was around me, but my brain kept on drifting to the worrisome scenes Andy described. When we arrived at the immigration building, it was brightly lit with fluorescent lights everywhere. A big sign by the entrance read “Welcome to Ghana!” Well, that didn’t look frightening. I then proceeded through immigration smoothly and the immigration officers were friendly with big smiles. As it turned out, when Andy arrived, there was a power outage. That was why everything was done in darkness. Africa periodically underwent blackouts due to unstable electricity supply. After I cleared immigration, I proceeded to the baggage claim. My suitcase and rod case arrived smoothly. I got them off the conveyer belt and was ready for the adventure of a lifetime! I proceeded to the outside. There was a sea of Ghanaians who came to pick up their friends and loved ones; amongst them also included many professional drivers. I did not immediately see Mac. I looked everywhere. Then many Ghanaians started to approach me as I had confusion on my face. They asked me if I needed a taxi to go somewhere. I told them that I was waiting for somebody. They continued to offer me a ride to the motel. I had no Ghana Cedi (Ghanaian currency) on me. I was starting to get very nervous. Despite the temperature being around 25 degrees Celsius, I started sweating. Finally, I saw Mac’s face as he struggled through the sea of people and eventually reached me. I didn’t think I had ever felt so relieved in my life! From then on, I was not alone.Ss>J
©昆蟲論壇 -- 昆蟲論壇 ^-z;
Mac had rented a large four wheel drive. Our driver was Mohammed, a local Ghanaian, who would stay with us to the very end of the trip. After some driving through the streets of Accra, we arrived at our 2-star motel. Mac guided me to my room and then went to get Andy. I looked around my room and a sense of familiarity came up. Like most Taiwanese homes, the flooring was tiles, no wood, no carpet. The building was all cement and bricks, no wood. The air conditioner was wall-mounted. After a few minutes, Andy came and we embraced each other with huge excitement! We couldn’t believe we were in Africa together chasing some wild dream. Andy and I had been long-time acquaintances since 2001 but the African journey would bring us even closer. It was about 11 pm. We caught up for about an hour and went to bed. The original itinerary was that we would head for Kakum National Park early tomorrow morning. However, we would spend the entire day in Accra tomorrow as Q-san would arrive 24 hours after Andy.6
©昆蟲論壇 -- 昆蟲論壇 !0>gus
Morning came. Up until this point, I had not had an opportunity to take a good look at Africa due to night time darkness. Every time I arrived at a new place after dark, excitement would escalate as I anticipated what I might see after sunrise. I eagerly got out of bed and looked out the window. This was my first real glance of Africa since I last visited 30 years ago as an eight-year-old child. The first images that entered my eyes were the neighboring homes. This was metropolitan Accra so the buildings were contemporary. They were two to three story modern Western villas with a nice fenced-in backyard. Some of the yards had laundry hanging to be dried under the golden sun. There were some tropical trees in sight, including tall palms. Some birds were flying through the sky and chirping. It was 6 am and the sun was just barely rising. What a wonderful morning. I knew the chances of finding a Goliath Beetle today would be zero, because we would spend the entire day in Accra waiting for Q-san to arrive, but I was still plenty excited about exploring Ghana’s capital. I jumped into the shower to start the day. Oh no! There was no hot water. It was not a cold day. The temperature was about 23 to 25 degrees Celsius, but taking a cold shower was never pleasant. As I would learn, taking a cold shower would become an every-day experience every time I visited Ghana. Ghanaians didn’t customarily install water heaters. The initial step into the cold water was the hardest. Then I would shiver as I applied shampoo and soap. Every day, it was the thought of finding Goliath Beetles that gave me the strength to enter the cold water.oGN-Y-
©昆蟲論壇 -- 昆蟲論壇 ({Ce
I met up with Andy in the motel’s dining room. It would be our first meal in Africa. We thought it would be a traditional African meal that we had never had. It was Western breakfast consisted of omelet, bread, and hot chocolate, with butter and jam on the side. Perhaps the motel management wanted us to feel at home. But there was a dark oily sauce on the table. We had no idea what it was. Mac told us it was called Shito, a legendary Ghanaian sauce comprised of shrimp powder, dried fish, and various spices, including, but not limited to, onion, pepper, garlic, ginger, nutmeg, and tomato. Before the trip, I was advised by multiple sources to only drink bottled water and eat food served steaming hot. I was a bit hesitant to try a sauce that had been sitting on the table for an unknown amount of time. Getting diarrhea on an expedition definitely would complicate things, potentially even ending it. But the deep-fried and smoky aroma of all those ingredients was such an irresistible invitation. I thought I would just try a very small amount, just to get an idea of what it tasted like. But then there was no stopping. I got hooked. It turned out to be my favorite sauce of all time. I was eating it with every meal. It could go with anything: bread, rice, noodles, yam, meats, you name it. The Shito sauce was a universal sauce in every home and restaurant in Ghana. Every kitchen had its own variation. Some were spicier; some were sweeter; some were saltier; all were wonderful. Before I caught any Goliath Beetle, the Shito caught my stomach. After our first meal, Andy and I were ready to explore Accra.dP;#f
©昆蟲論壇 -- 昆蟲論壇 3S"
It was still early. Q-san would not arrive for a few more hours. Andy and I decided to explore the streets around the motel on our own. We were apprehensive because we were not sure how we would be perceived by the locals. We ventured out of the motel and became fully exposed to Accra. It was a cloudy day about 25 degrees Celsius. The streets were wet from the morning rain. I always paid close attention to the weather because I would need to create a similar environment in order to successfully breed the Royal Goliath Beetle and Chief Goliath Beetle in captivity. It was June 14, 2015. There were very few Ghanaians on the streets on this Sunday morning. Perhaps most of them were attending church. In a distance, I saw two Ghanaians walking in our direction. I looked at their face periodically to see if they were looking at us. Eventually, they passed by me and Andy without really paying attention to us. At that moment, I felt it would be alright for us to explore Accra freely. We didn’t venture too far, as we certainly didn’t want to get lost. I started looking around. Pleasantly, I was reminded of my childhood in Taiwan. When I was eight years old, I was living in Tainan, a southern city in Taiwan. The sides of the streets were lined with open gutters. My favorite activity after school was catching frogs, minnows, and turtles in the gutters with my sister. Here in Accra, chickens and goats roamed the streets and drank from the open gutters. As we continued to explore, we saw two types of homes intermixed in Accra. Some homes had low fences where you could easily see the building. Some mansions had very high fences that obscured the house inside. In addition, the top of the fences were lined with multiple layers of electric wires for extra security. After making a few lapses, we returned to the motel and got ready to pick up Q-san from the airport. Again, the airport was full of people. We were packed in there like sardines in a can. We had not heard from Q-san since he left China. How did he do in Addis Ababa? We had no idea if he would come out of the arrival building. We waited and waited. Miraculously, he showed up at the exit. We yelled, screamed, and waved at him. Finally, the team got reunited.@G
©昆蟲論壇 -- 昆蟲論壇 .9
Mac, Mohammed, Andy, Q-san, and I joyously went out for a late lunch. We visited a restaurant called Papaye. We had Jollof Rice, the most popular dish in Ghana, served in every restaurant. It was a version of fried rice with onions, tomatoes, peppers, garlic, curry powder, and various herbs. Frequently, it was served with fried chicken. And of course, there was Shito on the side. As we enjoyed our first lunch in Ghana, Mac shared some exciting news with us. He said his friends in Kakum had already caught us a bunch of Goliath Beetles! All we had to do was go pick them up tomorrow morning at the village of Mesomago. We were overjoyed. We thought we had already accomplished our mission. We began talking about what we should do for the remainder of the trip, such as chilling at the beach and sightseeing Ghana.K'c
©昆蟲論壇 -- 昆蟲論壇 k
The next morning at 5 am, I woke up excitedly and willingly jumped into the cold shower with no hesitation. The burning passion inside me could easily combat any cold water. After a leisure breakfast, we left Accra at 8 am. We were ready to go pick up our Goliath Beetles! The drive from Accra to Mesomago would be approximately 3.5 hours. When we stopped for the first major traffic light, the roads became a mobile market. Vendors walked among cars to sell all kinds of items imaginable. Foods, drinks, toilet papers, car wash, electronics, phone cards, sunglasses, clothes, shoes, you name it. Eventually, we left Accra and the scenes became bucolic. We saw stretches and stretches of grasslands and farmlands that extended to the horizon. There were some sporadic trees along the way, but no forests. It was not always like this. In the early 20th Century, the lowlands of Ghana were covered by lush tropical rainforests. Over the years, Ghana had lost the majority of its tropical rainforests to lumber, cocao, palm oil, rubber, and farming. As we drove, mangoes, pineapples, and coconuts were frequently offered for sale by roadside vendors. We also saw a few hunters offering bushmeat. After we arrived in Cape Coast, we made a sharp right turn and started to go inland. Gradually, plains turned into patches of trees, which then turned into forests. I had never been so close to wild Goliath Beetles. Maybe the air that I was breathing in had just passed through a Goliath Beetle moments ago. The thought that we might be close enough to be breathing the same air generated surrealism and unprecedented excitement. The road that connected Accra to Cape Coast was paved with asphalt. Once we left Cape Coast for Mesomago, the road turned into a dirt road. The further away we were from Cape Coast, the smaller the road became and the more potholes there were. Eventually, we had to drive very slowly and often from side to side to avoid the potholes. At 1 pm, there was no more road. Our car came to a stop in front of a village adjacent to thick jungles. This must be Mesomago. My heart began to pound uncontrollably. Mac got out of the car and greeted a man who had been waiting for us. He was the chief of this village. After he granted us permission, we stepped out of the car. Mac knew what was on my mind. Without me asking, he pointed to a blue bucket under a tree about 10 meters away and said, “Your Goliath Beetles are in there.” I tensed up. My muscles began to tremor and my mouth became dry as I would before taking a big exam. Even walking became challenging. Andy and Q-san were visibly nervous too. We grabbed each other and stumbled to the blue bucket under the tree while mumbling, “This is nerve wrecking. This is terrifying…” When we got to the bucket, it was covered by a piece of board to prevent the beetles from flying away. My stomach was wrenching. My heart was racing. As much as we had longed for Goliath Beetles, nobody had the courage to remove the board. The truth might be too much for us to handle. It was either tremendous excitement or devastating disappointment. “Let’s get it over with,” I yelled and pushed away the board.U[8[
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2015/08/30 05:23:13am 
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