A Magic Lake & A River of Honey

Since my minor breakdown of restlessness in August, I have decided to make a better effort to have some adventures here.  It’s easy to forget that I am living in Africa and there are many exciting things to see and do.  Here’s how I’m doing so far:

Life in Danfili

The pump where I get water

Kids at Koranic School 

Crazy biting ants

Hawa with her baby doll

Manyaki

Red-throated Bee-eater

Weaver nests in the tiny town of Manyaki.  Manyaki is a Fulfulde word that translates to "River of Honey".  The town is known for producing honey.

View on our way back to town.  Manyaki is at the foot of these mountains. 

Abdul-Aziz, the health worker who I went to Manyaki with, crossing the dubious bridge

A structure for corn storage.  They keep it in the top to keep the corn away from animals.  If they find bugs, they light a fire on the bottom to smoke them out.

Mbakaou

Mbakaou, Dale's post, is right outside of Tibati.  It's a small town en brousse, but they have a huge dam.  All of the dam workers live in a small community outside of the village with paved roads and nice houses.

Victoria, Dale, Brian, and I in Mbakaou

Mbakaou Dam

Pin-tailed Widow- They have crazy long tails and are really interesting when they fly.

Off of Lake Mbakaou, there are many smaller lakes.  One I've mentioned before is Lake Mbella.  I had heard that it was magic and just recently learned the story behind it.  They say that there used to be a village where the lake is now.  One day a prophet came to the village.  He looked very ragged and no one wanted to invite him into their home.  One man let him spend the night and fed him.  The next morning, the prophet told him to take his family and follow him up to the mountains.  However, he left his staff in the village.  When they arrived, he told them to go back and see what their village had become.  When they got back, they found the lake  in the place where their village used to be.  The staff had turned into a snake, which lives in the center of the lake.  To cross the lake, one must move around the edge of the water because there is a force that pulls boats down in the center where the snake lives.  People say that they still hear the villagers under the water pounding their manioche and see the leaves from their roofs float up when they change them each year.