We headed out to the bush on our safari (really, an excursion into the back country to see wild animals in their natural habitat as none of us were hunters, carried a gun, had a hunting permit, tracked an animal on foot, or drove the atv we all piled into - but for us American's, it was a safari!) not even quite two weeks into my visit. I still wasn't sleeping all that well and had agreed to share a room with another single woman to save us both some money and for - at least for me - the camaraderie of it. However, I was kind of worried about my keeping her up all night if my leg got restless and I had to get up and walk. which it did. and i did. and on top of it, i got sick during the wee hours of the first night we were there so not ONLY was i up during the night walking because my leg bothered me, i was also spending a considerable amount of time in the bathroom! Please, God, make sure she has a corner mansion with a view when she gets to heaven for putting up with me as a roommate!!! I don't know if I would ever do it again because i am not a good sleeper.
At any rate, we had a two-lane, paved road nearly the entire way. We went through some small towns and villages that didn't look drastically different from Ouagadougou in some respects, except they were much smaller. Same store fronts, same types of vendors along the roadside, same trash littering the landscape.
This is a town. You can tell by the power lines. There are a few government offices here that require electricity and some businesses will also have it - like a gas station. but most of the homes do not. Please take note of the beautification project to the forefront of the photo - the two saplings that are encased in a small fence to protect them while they are getting established. and then notice the boy in the background who can barely reach the pedals of that bike! maybe protection from him too!!! the rubble - rocks, stones, bricks, chunks of cement - it's everywhere.
A village on the way. But we are nearing a town as you can see the electrical poles in the background and the nice walkway on the other side of the street. homes are clustered together behind the walls. we left at 7:00 a.m. and the vendors weren't set up yet.
of course, my expert photography is evidenced once again. when melissa posts to HER blog, she fusses with all the photos to get them looking just the way she wants. when i post, it's just get 'em up there!
oooops - a duplicate. not sure how to get rid of it. will have to check with melissa. I'm so good at what i do!!!
part of a village. vendors will be set up here eventually. the blue barrel in the background is used to transport water - either hauled by a donkey or pushed by a person. sometimes a moto might be used. but water has to be brought in every day for ALL the drinking, cooking, and bathing.
Another village. or it might have been part of the previous picture. It has been too long and i don't remember. either way, notice the mud bricks behind the house on the right. they are made by hand. the same drainage ditch/ sewer runs along the street as is seen in Ouagadougou. It has a little bridge going across it so carts and animals can cross it. the windows and doors have those slatted vents and that is their ventilation. no glass or screens. the rocks on top of the roof are there to keep the roof attached to the house during high winds.
A small town. I am not sure where it is. At some point I fell asleep and picture taking resumed when consciousness returned. Vendors are out by this time. This pic was posted on F/B, in case it looks familiar.
I think he is selling doors. in the villages and towns, there are fewer vendors, but there are ALWAYS some. this is a well traveled road and you never know who might stop and want to buy a door. homes are behind the walls behind the shops or attached to the backs of the shops.
the two boys in the front are pushing a cart with a container that is probably used for water. there is a community visible behind the wall. i love all the trees. the closer we got to Pama, the place we were headed to in southeast Burkina Faso, near the Benin border, the more trees there were.
A busy market.
Of course, I just had to get a picture of the vehicle up front loaded to-beat-the-band!
Farming villages along the way. The ground is tilled, the furrows ready and waiting for the rainy season.
Another shot. The roofs are sometimes thatch and sometimes metal. something is planted here but i don't know what it is.
A blurry picture. So popular with my camera! A clothesline is visible in the background with laundry hanging out to dry. the laundry is all washed by hand.
A town. Might be Fada, about half-way. Love her outfit. very typical traditional attire. the box is chained to make sure it isn't stolen. Le Calypso club/ restaurant in the background - outdoors.
Landscape.
And more landscape. i love looking at it and can't get enough of it.
Farming village. Most of the rural farmers are subsistence farmers. unless they're farming cotton. cotton brings in revenue.
hahaha!!! love these! notice the donkey drawn cart on the left side of the rode. have to share the road with everybody.
a bush taxi. and just where is his seatbelt?????
you see this ALL the time!!
This is one of my favorite pictures!
we are no longer on the paved road at this point. we are on a sand and dirt road that led us back to the lodge where we were staying. for us gerard's, think mosquito alley! 25 kilometers worth!! (about 15.5 miles). took about 45 minutes to drive it.
harvested cotton. this is off the dirt road way inside the game reserve.
more cotton. it was a surprise to come upon the cotton farms so far back into the bush.
and then all of a sudden, there they were!!!! elephants crossing the road in front of us! they are the most beautiful animals. they have a baby with them and are very protective of their young.
we had to drive past them and slowed way down. notice the elephant on the left with his/ her ears out. not a happy elephant!
and off they go. at this point my camera died and i had to use melissa's. those pics are next.
........ and they loaded up in reverse. but oh well!! this should be the last photo she took with this camera on saturday when i was back at the lodge. and when you wait 3 weeks to ask what were you taking a picture of, it's bound to happen that the person might forget!!! in the very center of the picture, there is possibly an animal. the guides would point out animals when they saw them and we would start snapping pictures. i usually just prayed i'd get the creature in my lens and be able to produce a photo of it!
This cool looking treehouse is an outpost where guests at the lodge could spend the night. there is a latrine on the second level and the third level are sleeping quarters. the guides let everyone climb up to take a look. two women spending the weekend at the lodge the same time we were there actually spent two nights here along with their guide. not me. that would have been more safari than i could handle!!! marvelly is the girl in the blue shirt second from the left. sydaleigh is on the ladder.
that's sydaleigh climbing up the ladder.
missie and isaak.
in the safari truck. four rows of seats. melissa and sydaleigh.
mike riddering of sheltering wings (one of our party), melissa and sydaleigh.
this is what our vehicle looked like. a rifle sat in a sling on the roll bar directly behind the driver. the guide would stand at the edge and keep an eye out for animals. it was pretty cool!
marvelly and her friend.
isaak.
not sure what he's doing.
there's an animal in there somewhere!!
deer. or antelope. or akoba. or gazelle. but they all look like deer to me. a hunter staying at the lodge while we were there killed a koba and the staff dressed and cooked up some of the meat for us friday night. it tasted much like ground beef. the hunter gets to keep the skull, feet and pelt of whatever they kill and a small amount of meat. the rest of the meat is given to local people. it costs a good bit of money to obtain a hunting license in these game reserves. where we stayed was more reasonably priced than other places. the hunter staying at the lodge also killed a lion and a warthog while we were there. they cooked up some of the warthog and served it saturday night. i didn't have any because i still wasn't feeling that great. they also cooked a small lion steak for the hunter saturday night. the rest was given away. only 2 lion licenses are given out per year in this game reserve. there are two other game reserves in this area, which also issue licenses to kill lions. all total, no more than 14 or 15 a year. the game reserves are quite large and border togo and benin. we are pretty sure at some point we probably crossed over into benin. the border is open so there was no way to know for sure.
the guide is up front in the green shirt.
three more in our party. all total of 5 kids came with us. they were great!
Isaak and marvelly.
melissa and marvelly and her friend.
oops. duplicate.
saturday morning.
Dinner the first night. this is the inside of the lodge where meals were served and a gathering area. there are no doors. just open air walls and a thatch roof.
Elephants the first afternoon we went out. they are not happy. they have a baby and another young elephant with them. i was getting nervous. just goooooo!!!!
you can see their gray bodies in the distance in the center of the picture.
an antelope (center of the photo). the first afternoon we went out we saw a lot of deer, antelope, gazelle, some baboons, and elephants. my favorite was the elephants.
first day there. this is in front of the lodge. someone made some cement animals. at night they were big enough to catch me off guard and make me look twice!! needless to say, i was a bit jumpy! anything could walk into the camp at any time and often did. Saturday, while i stayed behind, another guide showed me a video on his phone of a warthog that wandered into camp a few nights before.
on the dirt road to the camp. notice my bare feet. not so smart!! i wanted to get some of the cotton that had fallen off the trucks onto the side of the road so isaak stopped and i jumped out w/out any shoes. HOLY SMOKES it was hot!!!! but i got my cotton!!
the tan dust rising behind us are dust dervils.
the five girls! what troopers they turned out to be! this was one of the beds in the rooms where we stayed. i found the furnishings quite comfortable. the place was very clean. they only turned on the ac at night and a couple of hours during the day. it was VERY warm without it. not as hot as it is now, though.
all in all, it was a wonderful experience! on the second day, they saw a west african lion. they are rare in west africa anymore and the hunting of them is carefully monitored. the north africa lion is completely extinct. it was a wonder they sighted a lion at all. seeing the lion made the trip for everyone who went out on saturday. the elephants did it for me!
we also saw baboons and monkeys right next to the camp. heard an elephant trumpeting late saturday night and possibly a lion roaring (or other animal that can roar LIKE a lion) that sent everyone scurrying into their rooms! had no idea how close they were because of the way sound travels out there. could have been miles away. OR maybe right on the other side of that stick fence!
Would i do it again??? maybe. i made it back alive - didn't get eaten by lions. so, probably. i dunno. but i am glad i went at least once. maybe if they had a beach .......... but really, i loved it!!!
