While my first noise memory in Ethiopia was the hyenas, here it is the scrawny feral cats that are everywhere. I choose not to wonder what they are screeching about, when I hear the blood-curdling cat screech. The cats are pretty, but really, really thin. We have lizards of some type all over our property. I can’t decide if the lizards are nocturnal or if they only come out when it is a bit cooler at dusk. We also seem to have predatory birds that live near our compound. When I hear them squawking I again, choose not to wonder if it is the cats or the lizards they are after.

The kids have enjoyed the few shocked shrieks I have let out when a lizard has scurried around me, particularly when I am walking outside to the washer and dryer and a lizard is RIGHT there.

The ocean air greets you every time you exit a building or a car. It is moist and salty. The neighborhood we live in is called Heron, but I have yet to see one. The ocean views from our house are of flat water, the landscape changes very little with the tide. There is a beach, not far from our house that is used by the Djiboutians. The kids feel it is only a matter of time before I expose my white flesh on the beach, when I do; I will let you know how it goes. I will probably be the only person NOT there to poo and bathe.