Trip to Crocodile Town!

I thought that I would tell you all a little about a trip I made last Thursday and Friday. My husband had to go to Kaduna ( a city about 2 hours north of Abuja) for some meetings, and I decided to go with him, as it was a good way of getting to see more of Nigeria. We were driven up by Jude, and it was interesting to see the scenery out of the windows. The land was basically very flat, but with huge rock outcrops to either side of us. We passed Zumo rock, which is even bigger than Aso rock (the one I can see from my apartment ). We also passed many settlements which were built of mud bricks and grass roofs ..yes I have finally seen these traditional African huts!!

We stayed in a hotel overnight, and in the morning, while my husband went to his meetings, I had a tour of the city. It was really interesting, as the man, Tayo, decided to show me the different areas and the different people that make up the city.

We started our tour down by the river, in a small park. He explained that the word Kaduna means crocodiles in the Hausa language! I was rather nervous as I walked on the river bank, until he told me that there were now no more crocodiles in that part of the river as they had been caught and eaten by the local people! I did see three crocodiles in an enclosure within the park, and also some ostriches and giant tortoises.


We then drove around some of the areas leading out of the city, and Tayo explained that the city was divided into a Christian and a Muslim section, with the river being the dividing line. It was fascinating to drive through these communities, and we were always greeted with a smile and a wave.

We then left the made roads and travelled down dust tracks to see some of the more rural villages. Tayo knew a lot about the history of these, and was a fascinating guide. Each village was made up of a number of compounds. These were owned by families…sometimes three or four generations all living together with their goats and hens in a walled compound, containing a variety of huts made from mud bricks. Tayo said that this was a very strong building material. His father still lived in the family hut, which had been built over forty years ago!

The tour ended in the area where all the government employees and military chiefs lived….quite a difference, as these were huge buildings, surrounded with high walls and large steel gates.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get an opportunity to take photos, as I felt that I did not want to intrude on the lives of these people, but I do promise that I will take a photo of a traditional African hut soon!

I am starting my new teaching job tomorrow, and have a whole week of meetings with the school’s owner, and also meet the other staff. I am really looking forward to this, and will let you know more about the school on the next blog.

Take care all of you, don’t forget to keep blogging!

Happy New Year!

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and that Santa visited your house! He certainly had a job to find me….but managed thankfully! It was lovely to see you all at school before the holidays, and I really enjoyed your singing and acting in It’s a Baby! I felt that Christmas had really started for me! I had a great time going with Music Club to Hotel Elizabeth to entertain the ladies there! I thought that you were all very professional and behaved very well!

We spent 3 weeks in the UK, visiting friends and family and also shopping for a lot of things that we can’t get out here! I also filled a suitcase with books, CDs and games for my new school. I found it very hard to choose what to buy, and I could have filled 20 cases, not just one! There are no nice, colourful toys and books for school use out here, and we are getting a lot of things sent both from America and England.

I am very busy at the moment planning for the new school. I will start to train the teachers on 21st January and the school is planning to be open from the 4th February. A lot of things have to be done before then!!

The Harmattan is very thick at the moment (do you remember, that is the dust that blows down from the Sahara Desert?) It means that some days you have to keep the lights on all day, and you don’t see the sun. However, it is still warm..which is very strange!!

Can I say a very big THANK YOU to all the staff who collected money to buy books and craft things for Grace? I spent half of the money on books, art and craft resources, and decided that I would give these to her a few at a time, so as not to overwhelm her. Her face was a picture!! She had tears rolling down her cheeks, and could not believe that they were all for her! I plan to give her an item each week until we return at Easter, when I will spend the other half of the money.

I hope that you are enjoying being back at school after such a long holiday! I thought that you had all worked really hard on the displays. I really liked the textile display in the entrance corridor, and your trees in the main hall. Keep working hard, and don’t forget to reply to my blogs! I’ll try to put more photos on next time, but hope that you like this one of Scooby and Sylvester as they celebrated New Year!


Lots of love to you all,
Mrs. Sanchez