Road Trip Day 3

On the second day at the resort we drove into one of the mountain villages.  I had brought gum to hand out to the kids and someone else brought candy.  We told them we had come to see the children because we were teachers on vacation and the people welcomed us.  Their view on the edge of the mountain was spectacular.  The clouds roll in and out all day.  Their homes were simple brick with metal roofs.  Most had no glass in the windows and only a curtain for doors.  We discovered clothing is optional with the children.  Some had just a shirt or just pants or nothing at all for the real small ones.  Some children had flip-flops or other slip on sandals and many had no shoes at all.  We didn’t stay long but it was an amazing experience bringing smiles to the children’s faces.  We did not take pictures out of respect.

I wonder if this was a church or just a statement of their faith?

The bricks are orange because the soil here is orange.

Next, we loaded into the gondolas which take you from the top of the mountains to the bottom where the water park is.  We went three each and one guard in each.  We divided up like we ride in the trucks.  So Clint and I were separated.  It was a beautiful ride.  We saw a couple different villages on the side of the hills with no visible road leading to them.  We saw lots of cows, goats, and pigs being herded around.  The water park at the bottom of the mountain had two big pools.  One had diving boards and the other had big slides.

This was the easy part then we went over the edge and headed down the mountainside.

This is part of the mountainside road we came up to get to the resort.

We enjoyed the water for a little over an hour and then came back up the hill in the gondola.  We drove around the top of the mountain to see the marketplace and where the president of Nigeria and the governor of Cross River State stay when they visit the resort.  The guard in my truck said he had stayed there before as a guard.  I wish our school was up there.  The view is so amazing and the weather is so pleasant.  After we let the guards and drivers go again for the rest of the day we relaxed awhile. 

Clint was enjoying the long windy slide.

We went down the wide bumpy one together.

I had been so curious what the children were cultivating in the field close to our hut so I walked up there with my camera.  My gum was all gone but I had three unopened packages of breath freshening tongue strips so I took them to give to the kids if they were interested.  To my surprise they were not planting or weeding.  The kids were digging for grubs.  They looked like a cross between a worm and a caterpillar.  Some of the kids had recognized me from our village visit and soon they were all around me.  I think there must have been 25.  Their hands were muddy so I put the minty fresh strips on their tongues for them.  It was so fun.  They delighted in telling me all about how they gut them, boil them and enjoy eating them.  I met an albino man on my way back to the hut.  He said he also likes the cool mountain air.  He mentioned the cool air was good for our white skin.  He said the people who live up on the mountain either farm or work at the resort.

These kids had made little trucks for hauling seeds and then used chalk to make roads on the parking lot of the water park.  They were racing on the windy road that looked a lot like the mountain road.

The kids said they love eating them.  I guess it is a source of protein.

When I got back Clint and I walked up to the gift shop so I could get a souvenir and then to the refreshment bar and sat outside to play cards. The cool air felt so wonderful.  We just wanted to stay outside all day.  We just couldn’t get enough of it.  After dinner our group again played cards but not as late because we had to leave in the morning early to have time to go to the Drill Monkey Ranch on the way back home.