Fun in the Sun

We were able to get away from Jos for one day last week for a mini-vacation with our friends, the Tolars. Yankari Game Reserve was our destination. We drove 3 hours; soaked in the warm spring for 5 hours; then drove 3 hours home.

We saw lots of these termite mounds as we were entering the game reserve.

I always enjoy seeing the warthogs, usually followed by their babies. They are very non-aggressive. Amazingly I only saw two baboons from a distance. Normally they are extremely aggressive and pesky. Last November a baboon jumped into our car and stole our bread! Bayo and Jay went on the safari. They said they saw a herd of elephants.

Aaaahhh! What we've all been waiting for--a refreshing dip in the warm springs. Well, maybe it's not so refreshing since the water is a constant 91 degrees F. But it sure does feel good! This is the mouth of the spring. That's white sand on the bottom.

David and Daddy. David can wade by himself further on downriver.

We used to take our Hillcrest students to Yankari. This branch is famously known as "Eric's branch" after it broke while he was trying to jump from it! The park now has barbed wire on the trunk of the tree to discourage other would-be-jumpers. You know, the passing of time blurs events in my memory: was I there or did I just hear about it?

A view downriver. It gets as shallow as 1 ft further down. It's a great place for kids to get used to the water. Baobab trees are indigenous to this region. They are quite a spectacular sight. Here's a baby baobab.

And here's a mature baobab. So we found out that it's possible to do Yankari in one day. We were wiped out by the time we got home, but it was a very enjoyable day.