Caboose

We went back to Gurara Falls on Sunday, very different from the rainy season trip as you can see in the pictures:

As there was much less water this time we could have a picnic on the beach and then go for a swim.

On Sunday Alex took Marebec, Dave and I for a walk up Aso Rock. This is the inselberg that dominates the Abuja skyline (when it’s not too dusty to see it). The plan was to walk up in the afternoon, watch the sunset from the top and then return to Alex’s for dinner.

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Mum and Dad came to visit me for a week, it’s taken me a little while to sort out my pictures and write this. (The picture is of Mum and Dad at the Farin Ruwa waterfall)

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To celebrate the end of fasting many towns in Nigeria hold a Durbar. In the past this was the Emir’s review of his troops, with cavalry regiments contributed by each district. Alex originally organised for a few of us to travel up to Kano for the Durbar there but in the end he couldn’t make it because of work commitments. Instead his sister Viviane joined Dave, Marebec, Kate and myself for the long and dusty journey north on Wednesday.

Once we had checked into the hotel we had a late lunch at a Lebanese bakery near the Central hotel then headed to Kano’s famous Kurmi market. The market was very quiet because of the public holiday, many of the stalls were closed, but we still had a quick walk around. We also went for a quick stroll along the street outside.

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Alex took us on another picnic on Sunday, this time travelling a bit further to Gurara Falls. The falls are usually listed as one of Abuja’s tourist attractions despite being about an hour away to the west.

We left Abuja in sunshine, drove through some very heavy rain and arrived at the falls just in time for the rain to hit there. The good thing about all the rain was that the falls were very impressive.

After sitting in a small shelter for a while the rain eased off and we tried to find a suitable spot for the picnic. The rain kept coming back though and Alex’s usual spots were underwater so we retreated to the car. After eating some houmous and lebanese bread in the car we drove back to Alex’s house, where he cooked the chicken we were supposed to barbecue at the falls.

Father Noel is leaving Nigeria for a while, heading back home to Ireland and spending some time in Kenya. Karen’s parents were visiting too and she wanted to show them Kabba. So on Friday afternoon a convoy left Abuja for Kabba. There was the usual drinking and wearing of silly hats:

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Dave, Marebec and I took Friday off work and met Phyllis horribly early in the morning for the eight-hour trip up to Sokoto. The early start was both so that we can complete the journey in daylight and because the cars at Jabi motor park fill quicker early in the morning.

Before long we were off, with the road gradually deteriorating once we passed Kaduna. The bush on either side was noticeably greener than in February and we saw quite a few camels and donkeys along the road once we got further north. We also had an unexpected (but short) stop in Zamfara state when one of the car’s tyres burst.
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Got a call from Alex this afternoon asking if we wanted to head out to visit Bwari pottery. Shortly afterwards he arrived with Tracey and Karen and Marebec and I joined them for the drive out to Bwari.

Bwari is one of Abuja’s satellite towns, with lots of housing and some government organisations there. The pottery was set up following the example of the Pottery Training Centre at Abuja (renamed Suleja when the new capital was created here). The buildings are of traditional construction, with grass roofs, and the site is very peaceful.

We watched one of the potters at work and Marebec had a go with his assistance.

There’s an interesting article about pottery in the Abuja area here.

Tracey will be leaving Nigeria next week now that her placement has finished. She’s organised a series of leaving parties in various places.

On Saturday morning Bob’s (heavily loaded) car left Abuja for Jos, picking up Jenny and her friend Rachael in Akwanga along the way. After a nice lunch we spent the afternoon wandering around town, doing a bit of shopping. Jos is much cheaper than Abuja for almost everything, I picked up some honey, video CDs and a thermos flask which I’m planning to use for making yoghurt.

Saturday night was great, the party was at the PW life camp. They provided lovely food (real sausages!) and plenty of drink. There was much dancing and singing until the early morning.

Festivities restart next week with a party at Bob’s place on Saturday, one at the Abuja PW life camp on Sunday and a picnic on Monday.

Early on Thursday morning Marebec and I set off for Jabi motor park, to meet up with Tracey, Karen and Dave for our trip to the Osun festival. By the time we got to Jabi Tracey had already sorted out a bus and ordered a breakfast of noodles and egg.

The journey from Abuja to Osogbo takes about eight hours and the bus was tightly packed, so it wasn’t the most comfortable of journeys. Marebec was completely absorbed in the latest Harry Potter book, though I did manage to distract her briefly:

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