SO THIS IS NIGER

We are moving, not once but twice…

Yes, I know I'm not the first person to move house, but two moves in a row is almost more than I can take.

 It's been a couple of years since I last moved with half of our belongings from Karachi to Niamey and I'd almost forgotten what it was like but relocating from one Third World country to another isn’t so bad, not even here in Niger. One can still afford the luxury of numerous helping hands that fetch and carry and clean up the mess, carry away the empty cartoons and wash countless tea cups and dirty dishes that accumulate in the sink from hastily prepared meals in between the sorting out of books, linen, and cutlery and china.

Nonetheless, after countless renovations in our “renovator’s dream” house in Niamey, the unpacking of hundreds boxes, both my husband and I were in desperate need of a holiday back home in Australia.

But one should always expect the unexpected, especially if you happen to have children. On our return to Perth we discovered that both our son and daughter had decided to move out of our family home into their own digs.

Obviously  leaving our house in Australia empty and the garden unattended for a number of years is no longer viable. “We are going to rent it out then,” my husband said.

And so it came to pass that the winds of change carved another milestone upon the landscape of our lives.

Now the real nightmare began: our cottage has to be emptied of twelve years of our life in Australia. The walls need to be naked and repainted in neutral whites to please potential renters, the cupboards need to be bare and scrubbed, and the possessions that defined our lives in Australia have to be packed and boxed and will have to disappear into storage somewhere near the Airport.

Of course we’ll have to find some living space for future holidays back home, space for a few clothes and even more accessible space for files and all the necessary paper work to keep the Australian Taxation office and our accountant happy.

And not forgetting that we have to break a few eggs to make an omelette, which means the costs of renovating in boom town Perth...

Of course it's not the packing and sorting and deciding what to keep and what to throw away alone that gets me down, it is organizing painters, plumbers, electricians and removers. It is cancelling electricity and gas, move the phone and Internet over to my son, and keep cleaning, washing,  ironing, gardening and shopping and cooking a decent meal every second day or so.

And in between I have to see my doctor, dentist, and hairdresser and get my old laptop repaired and buy stuff at Bunnings and Target that can’t be found in Niamey.

In four short weeks we will be flying back to Niamey and this entire nightmare will be all but a distant memory. I can’t wait to board that plane via Singapore, Paris to Africa…

Posted by: Lewana at April 10, 2008 21:31 | link | comments (7)
australia, africa, we are moving

African Fish Eagle

Pictures like  that I would like to  achieve myself eventually, given I can afford better equipment and apply myself a lot harder...

This photo was made by my mate Ulf Lieden...

Posted by: Lewana at March 26, 2008 07:43 | link | comments (7)
africa, bird-watching, niamey, niger, birds of westafrica, african fish eagle

The Village on Kanazi Island.

Three weeks ago I paid a visit to Kanazi Island, a small island in the middle of the river near Niamey. We were carried by a small pirogue across the river by our staunch piroguier and golf caddy Hama Hassane, who lives on the island with his Peulh grand-mother, wife and one girl child. I’ll admit that I was sceptical when Hama promised us that we would not be bothered by the typical medley of begging humanity on his island, but to my astonishment Hama was almost right.

“Kanazi must be one of the luckiest villages near Niamey”, I thought when I found the compounds around their palisaded mud huts swept and clean. The entire settlement was free of Africa's black pest;  black plastic bags.

Hama showed us the highlights of his village: a village school with several classrooms, a nursing post, their fenced-in and looked up well (looked up, so that animals and children can’t contaminate the water), large mango trees, fields planted with pumpkins, millet and green vegetables.

Dozens of children, of course, followed us around but fortunately they were a lot cleaner and healthier than I have seen anywhere else so far. “Clean drinking water definitely benefits our health”, remarks Hama.

Suddenly, out of nowhere a small boy with a terrible skin disease popped up right in front of me. “No one knows how to cure him”, Hama said, half expecting us "Whities" to work a miracle or perhaps more realistically expecting us to doate a large sum of money for doctor’s fees.

I promised to ask my doctor friends for a diagnosis, but cautioned Hama that skin diseases are often tough or impossible to heal. Fortunately the boy doesn’t seem to suffer any pain or itchiness.

At the tour’s final stop the children threw stones into the trees to awaken hundreds of bats. I wasn’t quite so sure whether I welcomed thisphoto opportunity….

 

Posted by: Lewana at March 01, 2008 18:00 | link | comments (9)
africa, the village on kanazi island

Hooded Vulture

Posted by: Lewana at February 25, 2008 17:21 | link | comments (3)
africa, wildlife photography, bird-watching, niamey, niger, birds of westafrica, hooded vulture

Spur-winged Lapwing

By the river's edge....a bird in a black-tie

Posted by: Lewana at February 13, 2008 17:40 | link | comments (1)
africa, bird-watching, birds of westafrica, spur-winged lapwing