Juan and the Praying Mantis

The twins, Juan and Lienke, live in one of South Africa’s most beautiful coastal towns, Melkbosstrand, on the West Coast of South Africa. Nature’s cycles intrigue them – not the ebb and flow of the ocean, but also of the life cycle of the animals living in their garden. One day Juan came across one of the most beautiful insects he had ever seen in the garden – a praying mantis he called Annelien. He decided to keep her as a pet in his bug-box. Later he caught another praying mantis as a friend for Annelien and decided to call him Marius. However, nothing he planned for his two pets worked out. Nature will not be dictated, he discovered.