Solution to Night Noises Problem

The top picture shows the new, concrete base for the tank that was leaking. The tank is laying on its side in the right side of this picture. The whiter sections of the concrete are the blocks the huge plastic tank was sitting on. There was no solid support for the bottom or center of the tank. It sagged, bagged and started leaking from cracks in the tank and from the stress it put on the plumbing connections. One connection is the "L" shaped gray pipe in the lower left portion of the photo. The other is directly opposite, against the brown portion of our compound wall. Sikuru Yusef, the plumber, had the solid base poured and sealed the bottom of the tank.
Sister Krupp, in one of her African dresses, is standing to the right of the tank that leaked. The tank on the ground is more than twice the capacity of the one on the concrete block stand in the left of the photo. This area is the back side of our Mission Building. To the right are cages that hold the outside portions of the Air Conditioning units and the propane tanks that provide gas to our kitchen stoves. Everything is locked up in a cage in Nigeria. Small cages for A\C and Propane, larger cages for Senior Missionaries! This compound is our cage.
This is Sister Krupp patting the injured tank, wishing it a complete recovery. The leaks created a large puddle of water in the area now filled in with concrete in the top photo. The frogs that made the horrible noise were attracted by the water. For more than two weeks we heard the noise you heard in the "Noises in the Night" posting on this blog. It was not good for sleeping. This picture gives you a closer shot of her African dress. It is very comfortable and colorful, but you would never find it at Macy's!
Bottom line. The noise was frogs.....not birds, shouting at each other. This is the end of one more or our African sagas. (Pres. Neuder was hoping the frogs were large enough for catching & eating.)

Noises in the Night

We have had some unidentified night noises lately. At first they went on for about 4 to 6 hours starting around 7:00 p.m. Then some nights the noise would continue until early in the morning. I asked the guards what the noise was. They said it was some big birds in the mango tree. One said that they shout at each other. Shout is a good description. They certainly are not a song bird. We thought maybe they were related to parrots that squawk, although they sound more like a sick duck quacking. So listen to my recording and see if you can guess the mystery noise. Since it's nighttime, there is nothing to see - just the dark of night and our noise. By the way, this is not amplified in any way.

Random Photos

This is Princess Janeth, the daughter of Emmanuel Okeh, who is our mission's maintenance man for the apartments. He and his wife have 3 older sons, and this little doll is very loved. They have waited over 10 years for this new baby. I was so happy they finally stopped by to show her off.

She rewarded my efforts with a big smile. She's too young to know that I am a scary "Oyibo".

My 6 week old zucchini plants keep outgrowing their garden spot. No sign of a blossom yet, but they are looking pretty good.
Elder Afangbedji posed with me at zone conference last Tuesday so I could model my new African top and skirt. Brother Bright, our mission driver, sewed this for me. The cotton wrinkles some, but the print kind of hides it. The Africans all think it's a wonderful outfit, and so do I. Sister Jones and I shared a bolt of 6 yards. This fabric cost me about $5.00, and about $12.00 to make, so this was a bargain.

The Road to Lekki Market

These hungry-looking goats are tied to this engine block. We think they are going to be someone's meal later in the day. That is a kitchen/restaurant to the right behind them. I'm guessing the big yellow containers have cooking oil.
Big giant yams. These get cooked and then pounded and turned into a white ball that is stiffer than mashed potatoes. They eat it with different types of soup (gravy).
The curved things on this round tray are smoked fish. They sell them in little roadside markets everywhere. Smoked or not, I don't think I want to eat some fish that has been out in the hot sun uncovered all day.

Another produce vendor.

It had rained the night before our trip to Lekki. You can see by the puddles why we have to take medicine so we don't get malaria.

Lekki Market

Lekki is an area on Victoria Island. There are many different markets there, but the Lekki Market we like has all kinds of fun African treasures such as wood carvings, paintings, beads, African clothes & fabric. We call this young mother the Bead Lady. She hand makes her jewelry, and I wish I had gone to her shop before buying necklaces at other shops. I like the two necklaces I bought from her best. The humongous necklaces on the right are what a Chief would wear. They were really interesting and very expensive.
This shop was mostly full of wood carvings. I think I bought some small animals here so he let me take a picture. They do not want pictures taken otherwise, unless you pay them to do it. You can spend lots of money getting carved items, and they look like bad dust collectors. I bought some anyway. Hey, I'm in Africa!

This guy was actually working on a carving and not selling. He was not happy that I snapped his picture. We're not supposed to act like tourists since we are really missionaries. Hard to do since we want to be able to remember all the interesting things we see here. We will probably get to go to Lekki Market one more time before coming home. The merchants expect you to dicker with them over the price. We are getting better at that. You know you have paid too much if they agree to the price you offered quickly. You feel much better about the price if they look really mad at you because you have taken advantage of them. It's a game! I wonder if it will work when I get home to go to Dillards and try to talk them down on price for a pair of shoes. They would probably call Mall Security. I can see I will have some adjustments to make when I get home.