Headed For Nigeria

Tomorrow morning I head to Dulles International to catch a an Ethipian Airline flight to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and quickly on to Abuja, Nigeria. A couple hours in Abuja and I catch another flight to Yola, Nigeria.

This trip will be about a month in Nigeria. I will be mostly working with the Demsa Health Centre renovations and planning. There will also be some water work that is yet to be specified. I hope to have some time to go to Jimeta and see the progress on the Deaf Church. I am traveling fairly heavy this trip. My main bag is near the 50 pound weight limit. My second bag is a box that is within an inch of the maximum size for international flights. It has a tripod, elevation rod, and some books for kids at the Deaf Centre school in Jimeta. I will carry-on a digital theodolite and my computer bag. The flights to Abuja should not incur any extra fees. I will be over weight on the flight to Yola and have to pay by the Kilogram. It will still be easier and cheaper than last year when I took the truck trailer hitch.

Sydney headed to first day of "day school"

The house I usually stay at is being used. As of today I do not know where I will be staying. I am hoping it will be somewhere that I can keep the expenses down. Since, a lot of the work will be in Demsa which is near the church headquarters in Numan. I am hoping that I can stay at the Numan Headquarters. They had one of the rooms at the guest house set up for long term visitors with a small kitchen and refrigerator. If I am lucky I can get that space for free or at least for less than a hotel room. Numan is a much smaller town than Yola/Jimeta but I can walk to a couple small stores that will have some food items. But to get my usual cans of veggies and various canned meats I may have to go to Yola. 2008 was the last time I stayed in Numan.

At top of Stony Man 

I have been traveling for over a week already. Sally and I drove to Hyattsville, Maryland last week for nanny duties with our granddaughter. Today, Sydney had here first day in all day daycare. Sally will return to Minnesota next week. I will fly back to DC area in October and drive back to Minnesota.

We have had fun here in the DC area. We went to Shenandoah National Park last weekend and drove most of the Skyland Highway. Did a little rock climbing along Skyline drive, got a haircut at the  Bladensburg Barber School, and went swimming.

Before leaving I went back and had another student give me a buzz cut.

Sydney under water.