Back "home"

Flew in last night to our West African home. Plane was late out of SFO, missed our connection at LHR (despite assurances to the contrary, thanks BA). Took later Virgin Atlantic flight and got into the airport (LOS) at 05:30. Never been there in the morning before, always late at night. The parking lot that seems vaguely threatening at night with flicking lanterns, and shadowy figures between the vendors and money changers looks just like a parking lot in the morning.

Pickup bus was delayed so we had to stand around for a while. Richard, the assigned fixer stuck with us so no big deal. Good thing it was overcast though. In fact much cooler than the 40C plus that we had been experiencing in California. There were some of those crow like birds squawking around so I asked Richard what they were called.

He said "Okada".
"You mean like the motocycle?"
"Yes" he replied.

But then when the transport boss showed up to move things along, I asked Richard what his name was. He replied "Okada". So perhaps we hadn't been communicating after all. Sometimes it's hard to tell.

The ride home was towards an overcast, brownish sky as the sun tried to make an appearance, the "Third mainland bridge" stretching off into the haze. The smoke from the morning charcoal fires from the stilt village along the way adding it's part. Traffic was heavy but moving. Being out of practice at ignoring near collisions I found myself clutching at the seat in front of me.

One new sight that surprised me was women dressed like the Cat in the Hat sweeping the road. Well, not exactly but they wore tall floppy hats, all yellow with green smocks featuring yellow trim on the cuffs and hem. A very bizarre uniform. Now that I've got my camera again, I'll try to get a snap. It took a seeing a couple to believe it. But there they were, diligently working away, armed mostly with just a short broom made from a bundle of palm leaf ribs.

Wife fired the driver this morning after he showed up late again. I'm just a softy and like the guy and he is creative with his excuses, but I guess enough is enough.

Off to JNB (Jo'burg) this evening and then to Namibia for a couple weeks. Computer gave me a real scare this morning when it shut off on it's own. Repairs here could be a real problem. I got an electrical tingle from the power strip and it's now out in the trash. The thing was incredibly poorly made and I'm sure to live longer with it gone. I thought for a while it had toasted the computer too, but it survived. Borrowed the more robust strip from the kitchen at least for now.