yankari, the haven

this weekend, i had the honor of being the guest of his excellency, alhaji ahmadu adamu mu'azu, governor of bauchi state in yankari national park. several of the volunteers made the 3 hour drive from jos to yankari and stayed at the governor's guest house, which always has electricity and running water. it was certainly a treat, since it also came with a cooking staff, flat screen tvs, jacuzzi bath tubs, and air conditioning. the entire trip was provided for by both the governor and the blattners. we arrived friday and were off right away on safari. we hopped on the back of an old, beat up truck and drove around the park for about 90 minutes. our tour guide, david, worked at the park for many years and knew the name of every species found in yankari.
we saw a handful of animals in their natural environment. the highlight of the safari was the family of elephants, including baby elephants! we almost got attacked by one of the older male elephants, but david did some magical spell and the elephant left us alone. we also got a chance to see water buck, several species of birds, antelope, monkeys, and wart hogs. no hippos or lions this time. at our compound, tons of baboons would play jokes on the tourists. especially at the wiki hot springs, where they stole kevin's (one of the volunteers) shirt while he was swimming, defecated on it, and returned it to him. prince, dr. chris' son, liked to run up to them from time to time.
the entire trip, i got to spend a lot of time with memuna, the daughter of one of FA's patients who is very sick in the hospital. dr. chris is taking care of her while her mother recovers. she grew up in the village and had a difficult time adjusting to city life, but really shined on this trip. she stole my heart! luckyily, i decided to bring my bathing suit last minute, because the wiki hot springs were heaven on earth. the water was always crystal clear and warm. i spent most of my time this weekend in the water, despite some odd circumstances due to culture. but that's a story i can save.
all in all, a fantastic getaway in nigeria! here we are in front of the governor's guest house.

on our way back, we saw a fulani tribe migrating with their massive amount of cattle on the side of the road. it was an indescribable sight. the fulani are nomadic peoples located in many parts of western africa.

the night before we left yankari, the governor sent for a tailor to come out and take all of our measurements. the next day, we drove to jos to meet him at one of his many homes. he was in a hurry to catch a flight, but fed us and gave us traditional nigerian outfits that were all made in one night! impressive. his excellency is very charming and charismatic; it was an honor to meet him and be his guest. here we are at the governor's house in jos all decked out in our wonderful gifts.

this was definitely the best weekend so far in nigeria!