Holidays in Nigeria

LOVE the festive dinosaur!

well its certainly something different, glad you are all safe. love those sunsets.

Exactly, Gattina! :)

It's all this stuff that my website is for, Sticki...some of it is so surreal!...but, it all ends up on here instead! :)

I must admit that I really didn't feel at all safe up the creek - really without a paddle this time and nothing around except bush...

Oh, J! It was!!

There was a little monkey in a palm tree outside our room...but by dinnertime it had disappeared...Esther says that it was probably in the stew....................!

Quite an adventure...let's see...sinking boat in a creek full of crocs.....There was no way you were not going to make that jump now was there. Lol

Nope!! lol!

Wow... scary moments and missing monkey aside... looks like lovely and different Christmas. A lovely Blog. The Photo's are brilliant. Really like the Cashew!!!

lol...that was the most unconvincing santa claus I've ever seen Karen! :))) Well done on the boat jumping! aaaaaaaargh! :)

Kaaaren , very intrepid ; good to be back though !?!

Certainly very different Karen..just glad I wasn't on that boat ! What did your son think,and wonder what his mates will think when he gets home ,and tells them all this ? ..a touch of the sun? lol. Truth is stranger than fiction,as they say.:o)..Lovely pics and looks as though you were made very welcome..:o)

That's Barney the dinosaur!!!!
Have to say that is the freakiest looking Santa I've ever seen. May have nightmares.
Quite the adventure for your 1st Xmas there Karen. Nice to see you enjoyed yourself in the end and that your son was able to join you.

Wow certainly different eh?
Lol@ Santa's trainers..GLad your son was there with you too ..an experience for you! :)

Aah, Lil - Barney the Dinosaur, eh? The obvious choice to lead a christmas parade... lol!

Seeing cashew nuts in the wild has made me look at them in a whole new light, N3tyy - one nut per fruit on big spreading trees - which have to be hand picked...no wonder they're so expensive! But - beautiful and delicious! Unlike missing monkeys...... :/

Karen, Lil and Pixi - he's definitely the strangest Santa I've ever seen! Mittens, sunglasses and trainers with no socks! We laughed! Not sure if the padding was actually his own...He must have been roasting!!

At the time, Driad, we were very glad to be back on dry land. Peter, our driver, was waiting for us and he was so worried that he offered to call one of his friends with a motorised 'dug-out' to go and escort OH and the boat back...then we saw the rescue craft go out again to do that. Apparently, Peter was on a boat which broke down once and he ended up drifting all night and into the country next door!!!

Aah, Bloomer - I don't think that Son will ever forget this trip! He keeps putting everything on Facebook the minute he gets back to the house...of course none of his friends thought that he'd survive the first few days in Nigeria...let alone enjoy it!

I do sometimes wonder if things will ever settle into a humdrum routine here???

What can I say? Wonderful in the true sense of the word! Certainly put a smile on my face...gone on faves to show family:-)))

Thank you BA! :)))
...there really is never a dull moment here...some not so, but most of it good. :)

What a Christmas for you to remember, makes mine boring in comparison. Fantastic blog made me chuckle :-)

Back to the plants Karen...That little Pumpkin tree is interesting. There is an Aubergine that grows a little bit like this..But that's not what it is. So any idea?

Thank you, Kfunsters :)

It was fun...although it did take a few hours before I saw the funny side of the 'creek episode'! lol!

Haven't a clue Pim...I'll ask the expert later...(Delonix, that is)! :))

Lol..

I'll post it as a pic now and see what happens...

Can't upload the photo! Internet not working properly tonight...relying on your sleuthing now, Pimpernel...

Smashing blog K.....great experiences :))))
Been there done that with the boat...kinda...our's got stranded on a sand bank about 700m from pier. Crew just got off and left us!!!! After a few 'moments' mainly from my mother - the people on land must have realised we were stranded. They sent a wee guy in a tiny row boat to get us all (10) took him around 8 trips to get us and everything back to dry land safely.
Glad your son enjoyed it all - all his mates will not believe unless they see it all posted on FB!
Santa must have been sweating buckets :)

Will do me damnedest K...Lol

Hahah, Scottish! I forgot to mention the sandbank...

The conversation went something like this...

OH-'Is this where you saw the 'for sale' sign on a beach house? We might as well have a look since we're doing no miles an hour and taking in water...'

Me-'Yes, but how are you going to cross the sand bank?'

OH-'What sand bank?'

Me-'The one that runs all the way down this part of the creek...'

OH-'Oh! So you know how to drive a boat now, then, do you? We'll just pull in!'

Abrupt Halt!!! If we'd been going at speed, we'd have been over the handlebars (as it were)!

Me-'That sand bank! Why does no-one listen to me!!!!'

Does this ring any bells with anyone else, I wonder....??

Did you have a good Christmas, Scottish? xx

Hahah, Scottish! I forgot to mention the sandbank...

The conversation went something like this...

OH-'Is this where you saw the 'for sale' sign on a beach house? We might as well have a look since we're doing no miles an hour and taking in water...'

Me-'Yes, but how are you going to cross the sand bank?'

OH-'What sand bank?'

Me-'The one that runs all the way down this part of the creek...'

OH-'Oh! So you know how to drive a boat now, then, do you? We'll just pull in!'

Abrupt Halt!!! If we'd been going at speed, we'd have been over the handlebars (as it were)!

Me-'That sand bank! Why does no-one listen to me!!!!'

Does this ring any bells with anyone else, I wonder....??

Did you have a good Christmas, Scottish? xx

EEK! Big technical faults tonight folks!

I just posted Delonix a link to your blog...Easy.

Pimpernel...I'm relying on you!
...but don't let it keep you up all night!! ;)

Aah...even Son (IT expert) is flummoxed here...but not about fruit...lol!

After 10pm...I usually open a bottle and make up something vaguely Latin sounding..surprisingly effective in the short term.

Karen its "its the way you tell-em" I `ve enjoyed reading of all your exploits, you seem to take everything in your stride, if it was happening to me I`d be in pieces.
Smashing blog and Photo`s..
Happy New Year To You.xx.

Ahah...I'm on your wavelength there, Pim...'Pumpkino Africano'...or 'a touch too much Baccardio', as they would say here, lol!! :)))

Lincslass- I did do the going to pieces bit, at first...but, the people were so nice whilst the mayhem took place, that I couldn't help 'embracing' it in the end... :))))

And I hope that you and yours have a very happy new year too! xx

Karenfranceafrica:

It sounds like quite an unforgettable, adventurous Christmas trip! Glad to hear you're home safe!

Hi Karenfrance, Loved reading your blog, sounds like fun.. I love the sunset.Lucky old you to be in the warm :))))

Lol! Glad to hear you got home eventually! I love the way you just go with the flow, in this case literally! A Christmas not to be forgotten! :0)x

OH and I once got disastrously separated for about 7 hours by a ferry jumping (or in OH's case, NOT jumping) incident in Bankok. Thought I'd lost him for good. One day, when It's too awful to do any gardening, I'll bore you all rigid with it.

Hi Andy! It's all part of the fun! Any ideas on what the unidentified fruit is in picture 3, by any chance? :))

Thank you, Cmsue - we did have a good time and it certainly is warm! :))

Libet, I never used to be like this...living in France prepared me for a slower pace (a bit)...but everything here takes place in AMT (that's African Maybe Time). You can struggle against it but you just end up exhausted and in the same place! lol! :)) x

Gattina, that sound truly scary...I don't think I'd be able to go with the flow in that situation at all!!

It sounds like you all had a wonderful time. I'm pleased to hear about it :o)

KF, it was worse than scary - it was one of the worst days of my life. We were incredibly lucky that it had a happy ending. I shall be selling the film rights! LOL.

Thank you Hywel! I'm glad you enjoyed it...I know we did...well, most of it! lol!

Did we read about that in the papers, a few yaers ago, Gattina? I think that you might have to tell us now...or, at least, before the end of Febuary...!!

Good Gracious, NO, not in the papers, KF! I suppose 12 years on it's quite an amusing incident, but at the time it was a nightmare, and not something I'm very proud of. Give us a day or two to summon up the courage.

Karenfranceafrica:

Yes, the unidentified tree is a species of Ficus. It looks very similar to F. palmeri, however, I have one in my front yard and the figs do not get as big as the one pictured.

Only just read this - but glad I did - Great story Karen. One to save up for the Grandkids!! You are so chilled....wish I was!! lol Happy New Year in Africa~!

Hi everyone - Happy New Year!!

Thanks Poppylover, we're going home on leave in a couple of weeks and I'm not sure how we'll cope with the tranquility of rural France now...lol!

Been back out on the boat again...same thing...
Needless to say it is now out of the water until it's properly mended...

So it's another fig, Delonix - there are just so many varieties here! There was only one fruit on this tree, though...

Yes, it's another fig...there's thousands of varieties.

Are they all edible, Andy?

Karen so enjoyed your amazing and a bit scrary in places blog.

Thank you Kath...unfortunately, it might be a while before we can have another 'little adventure'...

No, not all figs are edible for humans. Many types of animals will eat them, though.