OFF TO THE NORTH! (part 3)

Feels like Home What’s in Kaduna? Absolutely nothing, as the Italian husband of a Pinay living there said. Nothing, that is, except for a small Filipino community who really made me feel at home after almost 7 months of being in a strange country. Kaduna wasn’t part of my original plan, but it wasn’t so far away, there are other VSOs there, and I felt a dose of the Philippines would do me good. I stayed with Simon, a volunteer working in a deaf school. The children were very friendly, and when they were not in their classes they were out in the yard playing, but the whole school was so quiet it was the weirdest thing! And a very nice change from my very noisy village. The Filipino expats, I was surprised to find out, had been living in this country for many, many years - from 7 to 17! And here I am struggling at 6 months! They were really nice and accommodating (I would like to say very Pinoy – I miss that so much), and even prepared a 5-course home-cooked Filipino meal for me and the British VSOs in Kaduna! Oh sinigang! I got really helpful tips and advice on surviving in Nigeria, as with the other Filipino volunteers who are here. Manong Blas, the couple who prepared dinner know you and your brother (the engineer); they were also teaching at IIT. It’s such a small world! Sino ang Bestfriend mo Doon? Though I’ve been to Abuja, the capital, twice before, I never really had time to go around. As this was my last stop, and it was really nice just spending time with Marebec, I just stayed around trying to get civilized until my money ran out. I felt so taga-barrio with the nice tallish buildings, wide well-paved roads, and aha! An elevator ride to boot. Dave, Mr. Techie himself, Bec’s boyfriend and also a VSO, guided me through all the technical stores for my brand new generator (finally I‘ve decided to get myself one!) and all the cables and stuff that go with it. (I was going to have my keyboard fixed, but it would have been expensive and they might just end up destroying my laptop, so bear with my capitals when I email or chat with you guys.) I went shopping in a real supermarket (small but they actually have a cash register and marked prices!) and splurged on overpriced cheese and potato chips (they exist in this country after all!). I met other VSOs working in or near Abuja, as well as ex-VSOs and other expats. It‘s a different world altogether. Marebec is one of the first people I met in Nigeria and the first person from my country. She was one of the volunteers who facilitated our in-country orientation, and the only Filipino volunteer who is my age. She works in Radio Nigeria, and this photo was taken from the Radio House’s rooftop. Though she lives 9 hours away, she has gotten me through some tough times and there are many things I share with her that I can’t confide with Cercopan or other nearer VSO volunteers. I got pampered at her house, which has air-conditioning, hot running water, and almost uninterruptible power. I overstayed actually, and since it‘s not particularly motivating to go back to the village when there‘s no water, no one can blame me. God Realizes I‘ve had it After a week in the (relatively) big city I got myself on a bus going south, and overloaded as I was with my gen, external keyboard, some pasalubong and potato chips (including all the pounds I had gained back), decided to head straight for the village instead of Calabar. So it was that I found myself trudging through sticky mud at 8pm so the motorcycle carrying all my stuff could climb uphill. When I finally got home I was too tired and too dirty, but I knew I had to half-cook all the expensive meat I had brought from Abuja. I was grateful I had a bit of water left just for a bath, but thought it had better rain tomorrow, otherwise Cercopan had better bring me plenty water quick or I would just go back to civilization. The next morning I woke up to the glorious sound of rain which didn’t stop for the whole day.

Radyo Pilipinas

I had only recently bought myself a shortwave radio (finally), so now I can actually keep up with what‘s happening in the world with BBC – if I want to. It‘s strange that I can be in on the news after so long of being in the dark (well, newswise, ignorance can be bliss). What really spurred me to get one was the fact that I can actually get a Filipino overseas station at least for 2 hours a day, although it competes with two other stronger stations for exactly the same frequency. I haven’t heard any exciting news so far, but I'm still hoping to hear one day that we actually have a new president… One time the news bed was “Spaghetti” which irritated me to the highest heavens. Imagine after all this time I hear news about MY country IN Filipino IN the village and what I hear is “Spaghetti” godammit! Anyway, while I really miss the Philippines, I find that there are actually things that I don’t miss at all! I'm currently working on this list…

OFF TO THE NORTH! (part 2)

Safari! (note: phtotos to follow...) Simply getting to Yankari is an adventure in itself, but it was a lot easier than I had expected. The Bradt Guide (which I’ve never perused as much since I bought it at Heathrow airport) advised to get an early headstart, but heck, I was on vacation and it was just so great not to hear the whole village shouting and going about their business before freaking 6am. So, even if I woke up before 6 anyway, I took my time from Jos, got on a bus to Bauchi, and got on another bus to Mainamaji, which dropped me off at the gate of Yankari National Park. This gate is still 43 kilometers of “road” to the “resort”. Entrance fee to the park is only N200, but the N1,000 fee to bring in a camera makes up for that. When I got to the Wikki Camp it seemed I was the only visitor (as I had expected), and the baboons who claim ownership of the chalets looked quite disgruntled that I had arrived and disturbed their lazy afternoon. My peace didn’t last long either. After my careful planning I had overlooked that my Yankari days fell on a weekend. Buses after buses of students soon arrived, and the very old and very sick safari truck was filled up the Nigerian way (meaning, more than you can imagine possible). It was good that I had psychologically prepared myself that I wouldn’t be seeing any lions, because I didn’t. Only very few have been lucky to see them in Yankari, about the only place in Nigeria where they still exist. For an African park, the experience was quite pathetic, or so I was told by many others who have been in other parts of the continent. Buti nalang mababaw ako, and I’m so used to the tiny and elusive wildlife we have back home anyway, so the sightings of waterbuck (of the antelope family) and bushbucks (like our spotted deer) were a treat. I didn’t see the much-awaited hippos, though we went to their pool and saw their prints. Elephant bones, too, just so the park guides can prove to unlucky visitors that they can indeed be found in the park. At least I was not that unlucky. One of the three times I went on the safari tour I actually saw live savannah elephants! There were only a few of them (best count 15), but it was still a high to see them so close in the wild. It was also great to see two species of monkeys, excluding the baboon. Of course majority of my officemates are monkeys, pero iba yung bigla mo nalang makita na di naka-cage. Unfortunately, the first Nile Crocodile that I saw in the wild happened to be somebody’s unfinished meal. And like I said, Nigeria IS the place for (h)ornithologists. I suppose my eyes have been trained to watch out for the little things, as I could spot the teeniest of birds but often missed the big mammals right in front of me. Notable of these birds were the African giant kingfisher and the ground hornbill, which looks like a turkey with a distinct beak. Oh and of course, these Pumbas were all rather aggressively after me, probably more for food than to protect their territory.

OFF TO THE NORTH! (end of part 1)

And after all this time I'm still not tired of these pesty agama lizards. The other amazing thing was the thousands of bats roosting on Eucalyptus trees all over the museum complex (no, I didn’t actually do a bat count). You guys studying human disturbance to bats back there, well, sorry, here’s another example that they just don’t care. Incidentally, I know it’s a long shot, but can anyone identify these for me?