On Saturday after rounds we went out with Dr. Palmer to visit his horses which are being kept at a Fulani compound up in the hills above Mbingo. To get there we took his green Suzuki 4x4 up some rough back roads, until the road ended. Then we crawled under a barbed wire fence and started on a hike. It is not uncommon for Fulani people to live miles away from roads, only accessible by horseback or walking. On our way up it began to rain, and then as is frequently the case here began to pour. What started as a trail became a stream with water running down it. At first bounding from rock to rock to avoid getting feet wet became resigning ourselves to sloshing through puddles. We weren't going to let a little rain stop us from reaching our destination. Upon reaching a ridge that we were to hike along, however, the lightning started. A close lightning and an instantaneous thunder convinced us that walking along that ridge wasn't such a good idea. At least we were able to pass one Fulani settlement (picture below) and gave a child there some bubble gum. On our way back the visibility was limited by the rain and clouds rolling over us so we got a little lost, of course, but eventually got our bearings back and made it back to the Suzuki. We had to wait for an hour or so for the water level in the river that we easily forded on the way here to subside. Jennifer, a medical student from Kansas City arrived last week, and she brought a Flip video camera, so I was able to catch some video of the trip and embed it below; the upload is a little more pixelated than I had hoped.
On Saturday after rounds we went out with Dr. Palmer to visit his horses which are being kept at a Fulani compound up in the hills above Mbingo. To get there we took his green Suzuki 4x4 up some rough back roads, until the road ended. Then we crawled under a barbed wire fence and started on a hike. It is not uncommon for Fulani people to live miles away from roads, only accessible by horseback or walking. On our way up it began to rain, and then as is frequently the case here began to pour. What started as a trail became a stream with water running down it. At first bounding from rock to rock to avoid getting feet wet became resigning ourselves to sloshing through puddles. We weren't going to let a little rain stop us from reaching our destination. Upon reaching a ridge that we were to hike along, however, the lightning started. A close lightning and an instantaneous thunder convinced us that walking along that ridge wasn't such a good idea. At least we were able to pass one Fulani settlement (picture below) and gave a child there some bubble gum. On our way back the visibility was limited by the rain and clouds rolling over us so we got a little lost, of course, but eventually got our bearings back and made it back to the Suzuki. We had to wait for an hour or so for the water level in the river that we easily forded on the way here to subside. Jennifer, a medical student from Kansas City arrived last week, and she brought a Flip video camera, so I was able to catch some video of the trip and embed it below; the upload is a little more pixelated than I had hoped.
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