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.
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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!
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I was at Gamboula over a Sunday and was able to attend one last service before I left.
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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..
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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.
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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.
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There are still mounds of beans coming off the farm for the seed distribution project.
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My house out at the farm.
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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.
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The chicken house
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Fish ponds
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The Cola nut trees have fruit on them too. This a a big cash crop in the area.
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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.
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The cola fruit
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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.
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