Maxwell, or "Grumpy" grows on you. He's a desert tortoise, recently relocated into urban Ouagadougou to Jane's house, where I'm staying for a while. After eating recently-planted vines that are supposed to eventually provide the only shade in the back, he's been relegated to the side of the house. Three times he's got out to burrow under a car and gets stuck between the cement driveway and the bottom of the car.
To turn around in the small space he sort of climbs up the wall his height and slips over in the other direction.
He's a fan of lettuce, cabbage leaves, tomatoes and cucumber, which he seems to swallow whole. He'll come up to you and listens when you talk even if you don't have these delights in hand.
The International School has several baby tortoises. Not much good to guard the house, but an intringuing possibility for a pet!
