Serving In Sahel

Most of the houses outside the city are made of mud, like this one. I took this picture as we were slowed for a speed bump on the way to Park W. There were several villages along the way where you could stop to by a snack or a "fresh" cut of meat. Although I don't live in a grass hut, thank the Lord, there are many who do. This village along the Niger River is composed mainly of grass huts and mud homes too. The grass huts on stilts are used to house grain.... the stilts help to keep the animals out. Houses in the city are surrounded by walls and gates, so it is difficult to tell what they look like. This is my gate, looking at in from the inside. The yards aren't quite like the ones back home. Some have grass, like my neighbour's, others have sand and some have concrete. Here's my backyard which contains one very important feature....a clothesline. With the West African sunshine, clothes take no time at all to dry on the line. Lizards are co...

Saturday seems to be laundry day here in Niamey. While some are fortunate enough to have a washing machine, others wash by hand. The other option is to pay for these men to wash the clothes....in the river.  After they are washed, the clothes need a place to dry, so the guard rails on the bridge become a clothesline for most of the day on Saturday. The clothes look surprisingly clean for having been washed in a river where the water looks more brown than blue. So very thankful for this machine, no more handwashing clothes for me! I haven't done the first load yet, I am missing a hose that will hopefully arrive on Monday. I have to say that I am rather excited to put in the first load. Who knew that laundry could be so fun?   You just never know what you'll see when walking across the bridge. These men are cutting the grass, probably to feed to their livestock.

About a two and a half hour drive outside of Niamey is Park W, very much like a provincial park at home. The motto of the park is "one park three countries" because the park is located in Niger, Benin and Barkina Faso.   We saw so many animals on our ride through the park: elephants, deer-like creatures of every shape and size, crocodiles, warthogs, badgers, baboons, groundhogs, termite mounds and colourful birds large and small. During our night safari, we saw rabbits, jackals and lions! After our drive through the park, we reached the spot where we pick up the boat for our trip to the Ile du la Mantin (Manatee Island) where we will stay for the next several days. Nancy and I shared this cabin during our stay on the Island.   Here's what the inside of the cabin looked like. There was a toilet and a very cold shower behind the wall. It was so much fun to explore the Island and hike up large rock formations. The quietness of nature wa...