OBOCK AND LA FORET DU DAY

Just had a great 3 day weekend with our friends, Wanda Wood and Bill Damour, from the American Embassy. They drove from Djibouti City to Lac Assal on Thursday afternoon to meet us. Then, we all climbed into our newest Hilux Toyota 4-wheel drive truck and drove up to Tadjoura, about an hour from our compound along the Djibouti coast. We stayed overnight at Le Gulf, a little motel like place with awful beds, but great food (mussels and wonderful fresh fish, caught daily just off their back porch.) On Friday we drove up further along the coast to the small town of Obock. On the road to Obock the geography changed. No longer were we in lava rock country. Instead the cliffs on the inland side were made of ancient coral and the ocean side of the road was flat with long extended beaches. John and I talked about the beautiful coral faced buildings that are still standing in Djibouti City. Now, they tell us they are not allowed to use the old coral in this way.

When we got to Obock, we checked into the Le Mer Rouge, a really lovely place right on the ocean. They have many little muraled bungalows on the beach and up in the courtyard area. There were 4 attached bungalows on the bluff, overlooking the ocean with little front porches. We took two of them side by side. The beds were very comfortable, the food not so good. But the ambience and staff was great! I definitely want to go back there again when it is cooler. We snorkeled in the ocean and just lounged in the water for several hours in the later afternoon. It was great.

Then on Saturday morning, we drove back along the coast and then up, up, up through the mountains away from the coast to Mt. Day – what a spectacular view. There we saw the La Foret Du Day (The Forest at Mt. Day). Once a lush ancient forest, it now lies dead or dying. Changes in the weather, they say turned this once lovely forest into fallen, bare-leafed trees. An expensive replanting program will soon be underway to try and restore its beauty. We were able to see the President’s big KHAT (legal drug in Djibouti) farm through the guarded fences. But, he was also growing bananas, coffee beans, hollyhocks and figs. We also saw a number of little home gardens on our way up. One of our employees has a little family farm there where he grows tomatoes, onions, potatoes, corn and carrots. He brings us fresh veggies every few weeks. It is much cooler and moister up there.

Then, when we arrived back at the compound at around 1:30 Saturday afternoon, our wonderful chef, Ali, had a full 3 course meal set with while table linens we had brought him back from the US waiting for us. Were we all gratefully surprised. Our guests were really impressed and told us they were going to steal him away for the US Ambassador. We told them, absolutely not. We might, however, be willing to lend him for a special meal. But, that was all.

The pictures above: The coral cliffs on the way to Obock; goat with a mottled coat-one of the most unusual goat colorings we have seen; our traveling companions, Bill and Wanda; a muraled hut at La Mer Rouge.

FLOODING IN THE DJIBOUTI COUNTRYSIDE

Last night it rained a little at our house in the Salt Investment compound, located above the Goubet near Lac Assal. I thought I heard thunder in the night. And this morning it began raining a lot. So, much, in fact that the rain leaked through our windows flooding part of our tile floors. A lake quickly formed outside our front door. We were leaving the compound and driving back to Djibouti City for the weekend and heard that the road was covered with water at Karta, a small village about 20 miles from the compound on the way to town.

We left about an hour earlier than expected and when we reached Karta, a low area in the road was covered with rushing muddy water. Our chef, Ali, is pictured standing in front of the racing water. Cars, trucks and minibuses were backed up waiting for the water to recede. But, the rain kept coming. One foolish driver decided to brave the current and was swept off the road and down the streambed. He was finally pushed to safety. Only the large tanker trucks and military carriers could get through. We all stood out in the pouring rain, soaked to the bone watching and waiting for the water to recede. Our clothing dried quickly in the warm air once we got back into the truck and were on our way. About an hour later, the water had slowed down and was low enough for our 4-wheel drive Toyota Hilux truck to get across. But, for the rest of our journey, we saw vast flooding in all the lowlying areas, along the roadside. We saw little waterfalls coming down the mountainsides and in one area, we came across a powerfull waterfall careening over a cliff down into a wadie (wash). The last picture shows our colleague, Mirgan, standing in front of this gorgeous waterfall.

Tonight, we had planned to play some night golf with some other Rotarians on our all sand golf course just outside of town. However, it has been cancelled since there is 30 cm of water on the course!!! Rain, Rain everywhere. These past two years have seen a remarkable amount of rain in Djibouti. Prior to 2009, there were three years of total drought - not a drop of rain. What a change! Too bad the rain comes in such powerful downpours, floods the land, and cannot be harnassed. There is so much silt in the floodwaters that dams cannot even be built to catch this precious of all life giving commodities for the residents of Djibouti.