Usually when rainy season hits, I’m blogging about increased
mud, dodgy (ok, dodgier) roads and heightened malaria risk. All that is still true and an everyday
reality. However, there are some
positives of the rains hitting!
The first rain at Guinebor this year happened on 27th
May. I did my traditional dance in the
first rain of the year (ok, it’s actually a crazy run around with my arms in
the air) – it is SUCH a relief to feel the rain after the drudge of at least 2
months of hot season, where it’s continuously over 35C by night and over 40C by
day. I get totally soaked and it’s
fabulous! This year I was joined by BMS
short-termer Dr Jon. Kudos to Dr Jon who
arrived for a 4-month stint with us at Guinebor at the height of hot season at
the start of April. We were watched
bemusedly by our friend Michaela, who watched the rain fall from the comfort of
her veranda!
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| After dancing like a fool in the first rain of 2019! Note the brown ground in the background |
So 27th May was the first rain since October
2018! It’s amazing that after just a few
rains, the brown, dry, dusty ground turns green. The following pictures show the same part of
the housing area of the hospital compound at three different times at the start
of rainy. It’s so cool that the grass seeds
remain dormant under the ground all dry season!
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| 19th May 2019 |
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| 7th June 2019 |
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| 29th June 2019 |
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| 30th July 2019 |
We have gardens, of sorts, at our houses here on the compound. During the dry season we work hard watering
them to keep some sort of greenery around.
Every now and again a plant will flower in dry season, but not too
often. However, in rainy season –
flowers abound!
Wildlife also seems to abound more in rainy season. There are often small birds around our compound
but this rainy season we’ve seen a lot of sunbirds. Or maybe it’s just one that we’ve seen a lot?
Beautiful creatures that have iridescent
colours. The colours of their feathers
change depending on the angle of the sun on them. Totally amazing! Unfortunately, they’re quite elusive and I’ve
never had my camera around when I’ve happened to see a sunbird on a small tree
outside my front door. So you’ll have to
do with a stock photo I pinched off the internet (thanks Google).
Finally, I saw something for the first time ever a couple of Sundays ago on the way back from church. A rainbow behind clouds! I’d heard about this phenomenon that happens during rainy season and seen pictures from a few years ago when it was last seen here. It was great to witness it with my own eyes. The picture below doesn’t do it justice really, but you get the idea.
Beauty in the desert and a privilege to see :)
It was a lovely rain and I was surprised to learn that a thunderstorm in Africa sounds the same as a thunderstorm in Ohio. ~Jon Vega, RN
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