Monday 1 July 2013
Updates on the Flock
We got our ducks back in December with the hopes of having little ducklings. It only took 6 months for them to get busy and we had about 11 big healthy duck eggs. I candled about 5 to see if they were fertile and luckily all 5 were, so we crossed our fingers and waited. The best part is the sitting duties were shared with the chickens, in fact when mother duck (Vixen) came out of the coop both hens were immediately in the coop on the eggs untill she returned, one of the hens actually never left the eggs and noticeably lost weight during the incubation. 3 week later 7 ducklins emerged each one fuzzy yellow and black and smaller than a tennis ball. A week later only 2 remained as the other 5 dissapeared, either taken away by winged predators or cats. So we scooped up the last 2 and took them inside, they now live in a big tupperware in our office during the day, they get a long soak in the tub every evening then come out to play with Thor untill bed time. Thor will follow them around with great interest sometime it looks like great appetite, but he is generally very gently just inquisitive. He gives a lick every once in a while, and they return the favor with a little peck at his tail to see if its edible. We dont trust Moose with them however as he regularly slaughters small birds and geckoes for fun. A couple more weeks and they can go back outside with the rest of The Flock.
More Golf
This may be boring to some but it has always been a passion of mine and almost an obsession since being here, especially since most of my other hobbies are not possible. Back on December 2nd I made my first Ace (hole in one) its a fairly difficult 152 yard par 3 accross water to a raised brown that you cant see from the tee. I hit a nice 8 iron fade that hit the front and rolled into the cup. As I mentioned you cant see the brown from the tee, we only knew it went in because all 4 caddies and the sweeper were jumping up and down waving thier arms screaming "Hole in one!, Hole in one!, Hole in one!"
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Over the next few months my game really started to come together I have won a half dozen tournaments. I can now drive the brown on most of the Par 4 holes, however the Par 3s still elude me more often than not. This has resulted in 2 Eagles (2 under par) in two months, one Par 4 and one Par 5 and earned me the title of the longest hitter the course has ever seen. I am averaging between 270 and 330 yards with a bit of consistancy.
Last month I wanted to set a personal and a course golf record for most holes played in a day. With the help of my caddie Ebrima and sweeper Modou we played 54 holes in 8 hours. That is 3 full rounds of 18 holes, walking. It was a bit warm with a heat index in the triple digits, a great day though. Ebrima and Modou were very proud and excited as they now share the course record for most holes ever played in a day.
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Over the next few months my game really started to come together I have won a half dozen tournaments. I can now drive the brown on most of the Par 4 holes, however the Par 3s still elude me more often than not. This has resulted in 2 Eagles (2 under par) in two months, one Par 4 and one Par 5 and earned me the title of the longest hitter the course has ever seen. I am averaging between 270 and 330 yards with a bit of consistancy.
Last month I wanted to set a personal and a course golf record for most holes played in a day. With the help of my caddie Ebrima and sweeper Modou we played 54 holes in 8 hours. That is 3 full rounds of 18 holes, walking. It was a bit warm with a heat index in the triple digits, a great day though. Ebrima and Modou were very proud and excited as they now share the course record for most holes ever played in a day.
Goree Island
Starting Again
I am going to try and get this thing going again. No promises of consistancy to start with but ill try.
The rainy season is upon us again, we have had a couple decent rain storms in the past 2 weeks but nothing really severe. Last night was a different story. During the late afternoon we were watching these massive thunderheads build up and spread accross the sky with incredible speed. We watched a Lenticular Cloud form on the peak of one of these titanic clouds which I didnt know was possible. Over the next few minutes the thunderhead continued rising and the Lenticular cloud unrolled like a wool watchcap (beanie) covering the peak untill it burst and dissapeared.
That night the storm finally materialized, drizzle and lightning turned into rolling thunder. Then KAABOOOM the loudest thunderclap Nikki and I had ever heard in our lives, it was a Howitzer Cannon exploding outside the window. It literally made our ears ring, and rattled soap bottles off the shower shelves. For the next hour it continued heavy winds and rain, massive lighting, and thunder that made the metal clad windows rattle in their frames. The thuder was just as I remembered it from last summer, a row of giant cannons firing accross the sky from one horizon the other in perfect succession as if timed by Thor himself. And the lightning was strobes and flashes through our drapes. The problem was our little Thor was not amused, quite the opposite actually. Grunts, growl, squeeks and barks could be heard under the bed untill we let him up and under the covers (his usual sleeping spot) where his protests continued albeit less frequently untill the storm passed.
I do love the rainy season.
The rainy season is upon us again, we have had a couple decent rain storms in the past 2 weeks but nothing really severe. Last night was a different story. During the late afternoon we were watching these massive thunderheads build up and spread accross the sky with incredible speed. We watched a Lenticular Cloud form on the peak of one of these titanic clouds which I didnt know was possible. Over the next few minutes the thunderhead continued rising and the Lenticular cloud unrolled like a wool watchcap (beanie) covering the peak untill it burst and dissapeared.
That night the storm finally materialized, drizzle and lightning turned into rolling thunder. Then KAABOOOM the loudest thunderclap Nikki and I had ever heard in our lives, it was a Howitzer Cannon exploding outside the window. It literally made our ears ring, and rattled soap bottles off the shower shelves. For the next hour it continued heavy winds and rain, massive lighting, and thunder that made the metal clad windows rattle in their frames. The thuder was just as I remembered it from last summer, a row of giant cannons firing accross the sky from one horizon the other in perfect succession as if timed by Thor himself. And the lightning was strobes and flashes through our drapes. The problem was our little Thor was not amused, quite the opposite actually. Grunts, growl, squeeks and barks could be heard under the bed untill we let him up and under the covers (his usual sleeping spot) where his protests continued albeit less frequently untill the storm passed.
I do love the rainy season.
Tuesday 15 January 2013
Dante's Road Trip
We set out for an epic road trip from Banjul all the way up country, then to southeast Senegal and looping back up to Dakar. It went something like this:
Day 1: Truck began sputtering 30 minutes outside of town, we chalked it up to dirty fuel. An hour later in a remote village the truck died. A so called "mechanic" took a look turned a couple screws and deemed it fixed. An hour later it died again, another "mechanic" no luck again. Towed to the next big town behind a smoke billowing truck that barely ran owned by the "mechanic". Two more mechanics, a welder and 4 hours later we drove off to a small hotel for the night.
Day 2: We made it to our first destination and the truck broke down again. I spent 3 hours with the mechanic untill he gave it the clean bill of health. I drove it the 2 miles back to where we were staying and it died again. I limped it back to the mechanic, 4 hours later I was on my way.
Day 3: We decided that going even farther out would be a bad idea so we altered our route a bit. We headed back in country to explore, we quickly realized that we were now burning fuel as if it was pouring out of the tank, not good when gas is 6 dollars a gallon. Coupled with the fact that mechanics, and welders costs were draining funds. In a country with only about 4 ATM machines total. Undeterred we followed the direction of a local to a tourist spot, truck airborn, 50 lbs Jerry cans flying off the roof and caving in the hood, avoiding village kids and goats dead ending at a river with a bunch of horse carts. Eventually made it out running on fumes and found a hotel for the night.
Day 4: Long day from Farrafenni to Salle, Senegal, truck made it but just barely nearly died as we pulled into the hotel.
Day 5: We got up early to go exploring, hopped in the truck and made it 100 feet before it died. Called up another mechanic, 2 hours later he was finished doing the EXACT same thing every single other mechanic did and confidently sent us on our way.
Day 6: We headed for Dakar with fingers crossed, as usual when traveling in Africa what should be less than 2 hours takes 4 hours. We arrive just before dark after battling horrible downtown Dakar traffic and pull into our abode for night with the car sputtering. Drop it with another mechanic who proceeded to repeat the steps of Day 1-6 and I am ready to have an embalism. They send us back with a thumbs up problem solved.
Day 7: Hop in the truck first thing in the morning to go explore. Half a mile out she begins to protest and sputter, not good when we have a 15 hours drive the very next morning. So we take it back to the mechanic and leave it there for the day. We return to yet another thumbs up problems solved steps 1-6 completed again. For Pete's sake think outside the fricken box!!!
Day 8: The drive home, sputtering, fuel guzzling, vehicle protesting every mile. Half way back smoke starts pouring into the cab from the gear shifter which is as hot as an iron. I suspect a blown seal in the transmission. We limp it back to the last fuel station have the oil topped off and everything tightened down. Thumbs up and we are off again, 10 minutes later smoking again. Screw it lets just push through, we make it to the ferry. Three hours later we board the ferry, two hours of confined diesel exhaust and human excrement later the ferry leaves for the hour long half mile trip accross the river.
Day 1: Truck began sputtering 30 minutes outside of town, we chalked it up to dirty fuel. An hour later in a remote village the truck died. A so called "mechanic" took a look turned a couple screws and deemed it fixed. An hour later it died again, another "mechanic" no luck again. Towed to the next big town behind a smoke billowing truck that barely ran owned by the "mechanic". Two more mechanics, a welder and 4 hours later we drove off to a small hotel for the night.
Day 2: We made it to our first destination and the truck broke down again. I spent 3 hours with the mechanic untill he gave it the clean bill of health. I drove it the 2 miles back to where we were staying and it died again. I limped it back to the mechanic, 4 hours later I was on my way.
Day 3: We decided that going even farther out would be a bad idea so we altered our route a bit. We headed back in country to explore, we quickly realized that we were now burning fuel as if it was pouring out of the tank, not good when gas is 6 dollars a gallon. Coupled with the fact that mechanics, and welders costs were draining funds. In a country with only about 4 ATM machines total. Undeterred we followed the direction of a local to a tourist spot, truck airborn, 50 lbs Jerry cans flying off the roof and caving in the hood, avoiding village kids and goats dead ending at a river with a bunch of horse carts. Eventually made it out running on fumes and found a hotel for the night.
Day 4: Long day from Farrafenni to Salle, Senegal, truck made it but just barely nearly died as we pulled into the hotel.
Day 5: We got up early to go exploring, hopped in the truck and made it 100 feet before it died. Called up another mechanic, 2 hours later he was finished doing the EXACT same thing every single other mechanic did and confidently sent us on our way.
Day 6: We headed for Dakar with fingers crossed, as usual when traveling in Africa what should be less than 2 hours takes 4 hours. We arrive just before dark after battling horrible downtown Dakar traffic and pull into our abode for night with the car sputtering. Drop it with another mechanic who proceeded to repeat the steps of Day 1-6 and I am ready to have an embalism. They send us back with a thumbs up problem solved.
Day 7: Hop in the truck first thing in the morning to go explore. Half a mile out she begins to protest and sputter, not good when we have a 15 hours drive the very next morning. So we take it back to the mechanic and leave it there for the day. We return to yet another thumbs up problems solved steps 1-6 completed again. For Pete's sake think outside the fricken box!!!
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