My First Locust Swarm

I was just arriving home from the Reporter office when I realized everyone was looking up in awe.  Above us, the blue sky had disappeared and had been replaced by millions of locusts! It was a hellish sight.  One felt completely powerless against this terrorizing force of nature.  The heart of the swarm was flying at about 20m above us, moving unpredictably and with no sense of direction except to locate harvest to destroy. Averaging at about 10cm long, the insects struck fear when some began to fly low. One even flew down onto my face before hitting the ground. These were the ailing locusts that came to the surface to die, the residue of a passing swarm.

They had put large distances behind them. One man claimed they had flown across the African continent from Senegal, razing fields as they passed. In pursuit of the swarm are the birds. Sparrows, weavers, pigeons and more made a feast of this abundance. 

The Heart of the Swarm

Locust swarms aren’t normal to Addis Ababa. My host mother could not recall ever seeing one and she has lived here all her life. From the shocked reactions and by the way people brought out their smartphones to take pictures, it was equally spectacular for everyone around me as it was for myself. 

It was quite entertaining to see the children so terribly frightened. When one landed on the ground near the youngest of the family, a boy of 5, he screamed and ran to hide behind me.  The others began making jokes that there was one on his back, which sent him running around trying to whack at where there was nothing.

This construction worker was
whacking away all around him

A dying locust compared with my foot

Staring at one of nature’s great instruments of destruction, I felt very lucky not to be a farmer. Against such a ravenous hoard there is nothing one can do but watch as the harvest, and the year’s income along with it, is eaten away.

For more photos of the swarm as well as my other experiences in Ethiopia follow this link