Greetings again from Africa! Today marks the one week mark since Megan and I left the States. It’s almost impossible to imagine that one week ago we woke up to a snow blizzard and temperatures around zero. While I am writing this blog update there are sounds of summer all about. The sun is not out but there is a refreshing breeze, green foliage all about and an ample supply of summer wildlife sounds (crickets, birds, etc). Below you can see a picture of where we are staying. This is Riverside Farm Institute from the elevated view of the mountain that the Institute is built on.
When we made the climb to see this view we also got a nice picture of Alex (Megan’s sister) goofing around on the trail.
While the climb up the mountain was pretty difficult (especially if you’re terribly out of shape) the view is certainly worth it. Perhaps this is a good time to mention the wildlife we have encountered. NO SNAKES YET! We are indeed happy about this. There have however, been a steady supply of spiders and lizards.
As you can see from above, that is indeed a Tarantula. It really doesn’t want to make us watch the movie Arachnophobia anytime soon. There is also a spider in the room with us where we sleep. He likes to sleep up next to my head (I’m really not joking about this one). We have been told he is friendly and that he won’t cause any trouble. I make certain to tuck in the bug net every night though as not to chance things. Lizards have also been spotted around here.
Chameleons too.
Funny side note about the Chameleon…the locals are deathly afraid of it…more afraid of it than any snake. We were told that the Chameleon has the capability to kill a snake and because of this it must be worse than the snake. A pecking order, food chain sort of scare one could say. We of course found this quite comical since the chameleon is actually harmless.
Well, as promised we also have an update on Ellen’s house. We were able to venture over there on Friday. As you can see below the foundation and cement slab have been finished. The first three “lines” of brick wall have also been laid.
Below is a picture of Dennis the official foreman on the Ellen House project. He was hired with the funds donated everyone from the States. It never ceases to amaze me what $2,000 will buy.
Based on our conversations with Dennis two lines of brick can be laid each day. This means that we may be here long enough to see the roof placed. If not we will get pictures and post them when we return home. The roof will be metal (very nice roof for this area) and after the roof is set the brick walls will be plastered and the house can be painted. The plaster will in effect seal the walls both on the interior and exterior. No detail seems to have gone unnoticed.
Well, we’re off to the next adventure. As more develops we will try to keep posting. Over-and-out from Africa!
When we made the climb to see this view we also got a nice picture of Alex (Megan’s sister) goofing around on the trail.While the climb up the mountain was pretty difficult (especially if you’re terribly out of shape) the view is certainly worth it. Perhaps this is a good time to mention the wildlife we have encountered. NO SNAKES YET! We are indeed happy about this. There have however, been a steady supply of spiders and lizards.As you can see from above, that is indeed a Tarantula. It really doesn’t want to make us watch the movie Arachnophobia anytime soon. There is also a spider in the room with us where we sleep. He likes to sleep up next to my head (I’m really not joking about this one). We have been told he is friendly and that he won’t cause any trouble. I make certain to tuck in the bug net every night though as not to chance things. Lizards have also been spotted around here.Chameleons too.Funny side note about the Chameleon…the locals are deathly afraid of it…more afraid of it than any snake. We were told that the Chameleon has the capability to kill a snake and because of this it must be worse than the snake. A pecking order, food chain sort of scare one could say. We of course found this quite comical since the chameleon is actually harmless.Well, as promised we also have an update on Ellen’s house. We were able to venture over there on Friday. As you can see below the foundation and cement slab have been finished. The first three “lines” of brick wall have also been laid.
Below is a picture of Dennis the official foreman on the Ellen House project. He was hired with the funds donated everyone from the States. It never ceases to amaze me what $2,000 will buy. Based on our conversations with Dennis two lines of brick can be laid each day. This means that we may be here long enough to see the roof placed. If not we will get pictures and post them when we return home. The roof will be metal (very nice roof for this area) and after the roof is set the brick walls will be plastered and the house can be painted. The plaster will in effect seal the walls both on the interior and exterior. No detail seems to have gone unnoticed.Well, we’re off to the next adventure. As more develops we will try to keep posting. Over-and-out from Africa!
1 comment:
Jeff,
Your blog is amazing!
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