> Scary foreign animals and plants!

It's funny how you only appreciate how small and unthreatening the animals are in England when you see some of the horrific insects that live abroad. Anyone who knows me will vouch for the fact that I am extremely rugged and difficult to frighten, but spiky insects the size of pumas are, frankly, terrifying.

The picture of the camel hoofprint was taken in the middle of the night. It stands as evidence that the desert is definitely not empty...

New and Improved 22nd June 2004

Black beetles are everywhere (2-5cm)	This big fella was in my tent.	A nice blue cactus (probably deadly).	Grasshopper or locust? What's the difference?
Camel track, and others.	Others also use desert pistes	I met spawning locusts.	They crunched as I rode through.
He was scritching around my head!	They weren't very scared of me...	Seashells in the desert, 100m above current sea level...	"What an interesting hillside", I thought.
Dragonfly, Ksar Ghilane.	His display was pretty awesome. Snap snap!	Poisson de Sable - you pull them by the tail.	The males are smaller & more aggressive.
Poisson de Sable, "swimming" into the sand...	Gecko - I want a pet one!	It wasn't massive, but it was very much a scorpion..	A rogue kitten broke into my tent. I ate him.
The next morning his brother showed up..	Gecko - stuck to the rafters!	His eyes are all set for night vision.	Under his wings are bright red "eyes".

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