Outside the garden...

is that a zebra i can see, giraffe and lion too?

Eek you never know what might be lurking there! maybe Paul's panda lol

Lol! I don't think Paul's panda would last long here, Pixi, since...
...I think they've all been eaten, Sticki...'bushmeat suyu' on the menu...what kind of bushmeat not specified!!! :/

so long as it doesnt mean sue you!!

Have you been intrepid and explored in there yet K ?

No fear Pimpernel...

...grass cutters, giant rats, black spitting cobras, puff adders, carpet vipers, nasty spiders plus, Esther tells me that when you get away from the brackish water (and that's the right direction), three different types of crocodiles and alligators!!!!

have you got some body guards?

blimey!

Ha! I don't think I'd meet them all at once! Mind you, any one of them would scare the bejeezus out of me! lol!

No bodyguards, Sticki...they just advertise that you might be somebody worth kidnapping! :o

eeeeeeeek!!

Well, it's approaching Christmas...and everyone has to find money to buy presents............!

so are you giving zebra, giraffe and lion?

No, Sticki...they already ate them all (or sold bits of them for Chinese medicine)!!!! :/

oh whooops.

It's not the best country to be in if you're an endangered species.................!

dont wear any stripy clothes then!!

lol....Here's me terrified of wasps.!

buzzzzzzzzzzzzzz buzzzzzzzzzzz pimpernel ~ take care!!!

LOL!!! :))))

Beautiful! I really love the Elaeis guineensis (African Oil Palm)! I don't see too many here. I bet they grow wild there. :>)

They're everywhere, Delonix...I think there's one in my back garden - if it's the palm which produces the red palm kernels.

Must be indigenous, I think, since we're right on the Gulf of Guinea?

Yes, it's a huge crop in Africa...not quite as large as the date crops, though.

I've not seen any date palms - or dates...but then, if they're not in season fruiting on the palms, I probably wouldn't recognise them! ;)

Date most likely wouldn't grow well where there's a strong wet season. They like it pretty dry all year. Dates are commercially grown in the Coachella Valley (desert) of California. They are widely grown here, also. (especially at shopping centers).

Yes, most of the dates in Europe come from Africa north of the Sahara...Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and Egypt.

Now that you've mentioned it, Delonix, I'm kind of missing them...especially at Xmas time...

If I'm not mistaken, all the commercial varieties grown in the deserts of California originated from these African countries.