Cheeky's Blog ;)

Well, first of all about the Mambilla Cultural Dance. It was a lot of fun. From what people had been saying I had thought it was like some sort of show, because it tours around the Mambilla Plateau and today was the turn of Yelwa village (which is the closest village to where I am staying). I had nothing better to do this afternoon, so I thought I'd go check it out. Turns out it was a full fledged village dance rather than a show . And being the only white person there, I was pretty much swamped upon arrival by people wanting me to join in the dancing. It was in commemoration of some Chief from Gembu who became cheif/did something/died in 1961. (I missed the reason why 1961 was important, but something along those lines). Anyways I got dragged into dancing with all the other village folk. Everyone was dancing, men, women and children. Lol. Normally I'm not really a dancing type. So it was wierd at first, but after awhile I got into it and it was cool. Some guy smelling strongly of alcohol befriended me and kept dancing with me. Somehow I got into the middle of the crowd of people, so it was impossible to get away from him, which I badly wanted to do, more because he stank than because he was being dodgy or drunk or anything. After awhile the dance moved from the market place to another area, and I managed to lose him. I was considering going to back to the station at this point, but then there was this woman who wanted to dance with me. So I did. It was more fun with her. lol. And atleast she spoke some english. The drunk guy was talking to me constantly, but I don't have a clue of what he was saying. Anyway, I have no idea who this lady is, or even her name. But she seemed like a nice sort. Lol. She gave me her necklace to wear while we were dancing. Everyone seemed to be wearing them, so they probably had some significance, even though I don't know what that is. It was treads of woven dry pink coloured grass. Then there were these guys dressed in some sort of tribal costume - with bits of grass and feathers and things hanging off them. One of these guys had this horn too. The dance had two drummers with big drums in the middle and everyone else danced around them. Lots of people had shakers too, most of them made from old food tins, but decorated with bits of all sorts of stuff. Some had feathers on the ends, some pieces of string, some just had patterns scraped into the sides. There were a couple of more traditional looking shakers - they looked kinda like gourds filled with something, with the narrower part forming the handle. There were also some people with puffy head dresses made of feathers. Anyway, the two guys with alsorts of bits hanging off them kept following this woman and me around. There was another guy who had a bunch of grass and was handing out stalks of grass to people, including me. And the two tribal guys kept dancing wildly around us and waving bits of grass above our heads. Once again, it probably has some significance, but sadly I don't know what. But it was fun, and very interesting to see. I was too busy dancing to get any photos, but one of the field assistants I think got some, so when I see him next, I'll see if I can get some off him. About 5:40pm my field assistant saw me, and was concerned because he thought it was too late for me to be in the village. I didn't realise it was that late, and he said I should be back at the field station by 6pm, which is when it gets dark. He said it was Ok if there were two of us, but it wasn't safe for me to stay after dark by myself. I didn't catch why not, but I took his word for it. But the field station is a 40min walk from the village. So he got a motorbike off someone and took me half way back on that. My mom would freak if she knew I was riding on a motorbike in t-shirt and jandels, and no helmet . But its how everyone rides them over here. Lol. Anyway, I got back just on 6pm. Its a pity I couldn't stay longer though, I was really enjoying it.

Other news: It has been really quiet here the past few days. Everyone except Andrew and myself went to Lagos. (We still had work to do so couldn't go, plus we were here for less time than the others). The two who are coming back here after the Lagos trip should get here late next week. When they get back we want to go see some caves which are at a place called Cumie Danko (which is several hours walk from here). I have a week left here (so we see the caves the day before we leave). I still have a fair bit of work to get done before I leave, but I should get through it. We are catching a ride with a guy from Gombe, back to Gombe. But he leaves here a couple of days before we have to leave, so we have a couple of days to kill on the trip back to Abuja. We were thinking of maybe going and having a look around Yan Kari Wildlife Reserve. Apparently, its pretty good, but from what Andrew could find on the internet, its also a bit expensive. So we will see. I would like to go though, it would be neat to see some of the more traditional African wildlife. And then its several days of flying to arrive back home on the 25th. I am looking forward to getting home, but I also don't want to leave either. I can't wait to see my friends back home, and eat normal food again and have indoor plumbing. But I like it here, out in the middle of nowhere too. The simple life. Lol.