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!"

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

As far as I am concerned Dakar doesn't have much to offer aside from this little gem. Goree pronounced something like (Go-ray) is a short 30 minute boat trip from the Dakar harbour. It played some minor roles during the slave trade as a holding and stopover island back in the day. It also had a sordid history as trade port and a vantage point during numerous wars from the 1600 to the 1900s . It now serves a higher and more profitable purpose as a tourist destination and artist colony. It houses about 1,000 people most of which actually live inside the old bunkers, ammunition stores, and other caverns under the surface. It was fascinating especially since I love old stuff like that. The island has a very Mediterranean feel to it with complex and ornate architecture, vibrant colors, cobble stone walkways and quaint little outdoor restaurants perched on the waters edge. It was by far the coolest thing we saw in Dakar.

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.