at home in ayorou

So we arrived back home in Ayorou last week and were greeted with a very warm welcome from all our friends & neighbors. They were SO excited to see us & to meet Isabelle that we could barely pull our truck into the compound before it was surrounded with people waiting to hold the little bundle of joy! It all happened so fast that we didn't even have time to grab our camera & snap pictures.

But here are a few pics from the first week back. We have moved this poor child around so much in her tiny little first 6 weeks of existence that I'm not sure if she even knows what's "home" yet. Our first week back in Ayorou she slept in a different place almost every night. The first night (Saturday) we had electricity so we were all inside, Sunday night Mark & I slept in the doorway to catch the breeze from the rain while she slept in the living room not too far from us, Monday night we were all outside in the tent but with Izzy keyed up from 12-3 am from her malaria medicine, Tuesdsay night we tried outside again only to have to rush in at 3 am because of a dust storm, Wednesday night we were outside on our fancy new screened-in porch and Thursday night we were back outside in the tent for the whole night & finally some good sleep.


After 2 days of unpacking & resettling into our house, Mark & Isabelle were plum wore out!


Izzy all swaddled up in her very own crib! Finally, a place she can call home!


So I left the house one day to visit my ladies with Izzy in my sling. Well my African friends thought the sling was hilarious because they tie their babies on their back. So they made me do the same ... only after I made them guarantee that her head would be secured.


And I returned home like this. But isn't she just a cutie all snuggled in my back & her little feet sticking out? And, by the way, this is Izzy's new best friend Hawa and my good friend Hamsatou.

bye bye senegal, hello niger

We are finally home in Niger! We arrived back in country on Monday after 2 flights. Isabelle did GREAT on both flights, although I was a nervous wreck! We came home to a very warm welcome from the entire Songhai team - complete with confetti, balloons & a decorated truck! Ruth Womble shared her graduation party with Isabelle on Wednesday as a half grad/half welcome home party!

We were supposed to head back to Ayorou today but I came down with a few bugs in my system left over from Dakar. As a friend said to me today, I thought all things moving around in my belly had left! Guess not! We're heading back to Ayorou tomorrow afternoon & can't wait to see what all our friends think of our beautiful little girl!

Before leaving Dakar, we had one last wonderful meal at our favorite seaside restaurant.


Grammy Pammy (or Bebe as her other grandchildren like to call her) and Isabelle. Thanks so much Mom for coming to take care of me & Isabelle in Africa for 2 months!


Can't be by a beach & not get a family portrait!


Isabelle's first feel of sand between her toes!


The Grad/Welcome Home Party. Thank you Wombles for letting us tag along & show off our little girl!


Welcome Home Isabelle!

on a safari

A couple of days ago, we decided to leave the city of Dakar & go on a safari .... with a 3 week old! Amazingly enough, Isabelle did great for being in the car almost 8 hours (the safari ride was in our vehicle). We saw some great animals (wow, our God is creative!) and ate some great food at the park! Check out Isabelle's perspective of the safari on her blog.

While eating at the outdoor restaurant at the game park, we were able to watch monkeys play in the trees.


The first animal we saw on the safari was this wart hog playing in a mud puddle. Our guide who spoke very little English said, "It's Pumba! Hakuna Matata!" Classic!


A beautiful antelope. By the way, all of these pictures were taken without a zoom lens. That's how close we were to these animals!


A giraffe standing under a Baobab tree. These trees are indigenous to only Senegal & Madagascar (according to our guide). Can you tell how gigantic these trees are?


We drove right up beside this giraffe. It just looked in our car & went on its way!

Our guide called these animals "horse antelope." Not sure what the translation is in English but they were quite an interesting animal to look at.


Just a rhino chillin' in the shade! Again, no zoom lens!


So these baobab trees used to be cemeteries back in the day. They'd bury up to 100 people in the hollow trunks. See the skulls laying on the ground? Creepy!