Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Art & Home

Here are some pictures that Gordon has been taking around our home of art and other events. Malawian wedding ceremony necklace of glass beads One of our favorite wooden carvings of a hippopotamus The sun setting over Jabi Lake, next to our house A tiny baby gecko that was on our terrace

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Yankari National Park

We took a four day weekend and went on a nice six hour drive to Yankari National Park, about 300 miles NE of Abuja. The park was established in the 1960's and is 2,244 square kilometers. In the center of Yankari National Park we found Wiki Warm Springs which is a constant 31 degrees Celsius, 200 meters long and about 10 meters wide. This is my trusty "bug bucket" by Outdoor Research that my mom insisted I bring, thanks mom! I am using it, regardless of its horrid appearance it is very practical. I also wore her much recommended Ex Officio Buzz Off Air Strip pants. I sprayed my shirt with permethrin and I never received one bug bite, while everyone else was being eaten alive by the tsetse flies! various modes of Nigerian transportation sharing the road in harmony the local bathing, swimming, drinking hole this is the nose of a hippopotamus The Marshall Caves are artificially made and were used to hide from conflicts by the locals.

Jos, Nigeria violence

Jos, Nigeria is known for its problems and we were able to experience these at first hand on Friday, November 29th, 2008 about 10:30am. It is also known for its cold weather and it is the most fertile belt of the country. The beginning of the military escorted caravan. It began as about 20 vehicles, we were the 11th and 12th cars in the line. We were the last ones to make it through the riots unscathed. What happened to the other eight?From a far distance it seemed that people were burning brush fires, as they frequently do at this time of the year. And then another guess for the smoggy skies was that it was Harmattan, the time of year when the sand blows down from the Sahara and covers things with dust. But as we got closer we could clearly see that it was not dust nor simply burning brush. Road BlocksBurning MotorcyclesBurning CarsBurning HomesBurning CarsBurning TrucksBurning Churches