The "road" into Loko could be described as a well traveled trail through the bush.
All of the children were fascinated by getting their pictures taken, and followed us around the town.
The Benue (Ben-Way) river at Loko.
Crossing the washed out road and the motorcycles we rode to Loko.
These kids were interested in our cameras too.
Hello from Abuja! Things are going well here, and we are coming up on our 5th week of school. It has gone by really fast so far and I have been able to keep very busy. Last Wednesday was our last day of school for the week, as the end of the Muslim observance of Ramadan signals a 4 day weekend. The national holiday is called the Eid el-Fatir. Happy Sallah! We were excited to begin our long weekend, but although the students were dismissed at noon, the teachers had to stay to work on our school's re-accreditation through the Middle States Association. Pretty important stuff to be recognized as a legitimate international school teaching American curriculum. Anyways, I was appointed as chair of the music committee, so we spend Wednesday afternoon researching and collecting evidence on the growth of the music program at AISA.
Thursday and Friday were days of running errands around the city, and I was able to get back to the tailor to pick up my traditional Nigerian outfit. Pictures will follow soon. Friday night we were invited to a neighbor's house to play poker and hang out. We played two rounds of poker and I finished 2nd in the first round, winning my money back, and 3rd in the second round, so I only lost 4 dollars all night...not too bad.
Saturday morning Jordan, a neighbor and 3rd grade teacher, and I were invited to tag along on a road trip that some of the returning teachers were going on. We were going South and East of Abuja about 2 hours to a village called Loko to find out if we can charter a boat to float down the Benue river. About 100 kilometers from Loko, we were stalled in our adventure because the rainy season had caused a road to wash out. After finding out that the other side of the river was passable and we would be able to make it to Loko, we decided to hire motorcycle taxis to take us the rest of the way to the village. After crossing planks spread across the washout we piled on to the motorcycles and headed out. There were six of us and we hired 3 drivers, so that puts us at 3 people per bike...lets just say that we all became a little closer that day.
After what seemed like a REALLY long and bumpy ride on the back of a motorcycle, we finally arrived in Loko. The city sits on the Benue (Ben-Way) river, and is quite removed from the bustle of Abjua city life. We rode through town and received double takes as the procession of white people on motorcycles probably doesn't occur too often in Loko, and were greeted by crowds of curious Loko-ians. We met someone who was visiting Loko from Abuja and spoke good English, so were shown around the town. We were able to meet the chief and Emir (prince or king) of Loko, and as we walked through the town, all of the children followed us.
We did find out that a 6 hour boat ride down the Benue river would cost N5000, or around $35. I was able to take pictures on the ride back to the wash out.
The group is planning on taking a boat ride in the next month, starting at Loko and ending downstream. It was a crazy experience, but I was able to see how the majority of Africa lives outside of Abuja.
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