Timothy's last photos

Saying goodbye to Gamboula.

Posted: 30 Oct 2014 07:45 AM PDT
     This past weekend, I was able to make one last trip back to Gamboula. I spent a total of 3 days there packing a few personal things, handing over my responsibilities and saying goodbye to the farm and friends. It was way too short a time, but I am very thankful for it.
      One of the things I had to do was hand over all my responsibilities. I gave crash courses in internet upkeep, Rabbit raising, Bee keeping, and how to use computers. Since I had not been expecting to hand things over for another few months, I had not really trained people in everything yet.
       I spent an entire morning with Jeremy and Richard, working with the rabbit herd - giving medicine, learning about managing, and talking about foods. One of the does gave birth that morning, bringing the number of rabbits up to 21.



     Monday afternoon was with Alexander and Placid. There were a bunch of specific tasks they had never seen before and that we needed to do anyways, so we had some good hands-on experience. The three weeks that I was away this time, 2 new swarms moved in to some empty hives I had set out. There are now a total of 9 hives with bees!






I was at Gamboula over a Sunday and was able to attend one last service before I left.

Maylay apples are one of the juiciest, sweetest fruit in Eden. I hit the season just right and was able to get one last taste..

Dingos are large crickets that have a really distinct sound.  There are not that many in our part of CAR because the soil is so hard. One night I heard the sound a long ways off and was able to track it down. This is my favorite insect to eat, but only comes out for a few weeks during the year.

My last evening I was able to take time to run around the farm, and see all the fields one last time. 

Our multipurpose building. Because of rain, and other things, I was unable to attend morning chapel in this building with all the staff and workers.

There are still mounds of beans coming off the farm for the seed distribution project.

My house out at the farm.







The cocoa trees are loaded this year. Last year there were only a few fruit here and there, but this year the 4 year-old trees are yielding a lot.

The chicken house

Fish ponds

The Cola nut trees have fruit on them too. This a a big cash crop in the area.

With all the rain, the cover crops have taken off all over the farm.
The director saw a strange fruit in the forest he wanted to show me. I was able to climb the tree to get it, and it turned out to be a wild cola. 




The cola fruit

The weather map from one of the days. There was a lot of rain before and while I was at Gamboula. As a result I was not able to take my motorcycle out for one last spin.
On our way back from CAR, our four-wheel drive land cruiser got bogged down in the mud. With the help of some young guys who showed up after we had been digging for a while, we were able to get free.