Sunday afternoon gardening in Wau!

Mangoes growing on the tree by the pool

Rumour has it amongst the local school children, that the mango trees were planted here by the British to say thank you to the locals for carrying them around during the rainy season in their sedan chairs that they'd brought over from India!
Whether that's true or not I can't say for sure, but the mango is a native of southern Asia, mainly Burma and eastern India so there is a ring of truth to the story.
Same goes for the coconut palms and papaya trees, that are not quite as abundant but seem to have been brought from India by the British as well.

The plant growing up our wall

It's fairly dry and dusty here at the moment as it's summer. They don't get any rain till around April, but there is an abundance of water from bore holes and the Jur river, so the flower beds here at the River Lodge are watered every day and there are plenty of flowers in bloom.

Andrew gets stuck in!

Last Sunday we were invited to the ACTED (Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development - disaster management and water/sanitation specialists) House for a spot of gardening! Andrew was hoping this was code for serious drinking, but unfortunately they actually meant gardening! They have moved in a different place which has a really nice shaded courtyard, and have decided to try and grow some plants.
As you can probably see from the photos, the ground is fairly solid and has to be broken up with a pick axe. A bit like digging in my allotment in the freezing weather last November!

Haida hard at it!

One of the new beds

A number of us turned up to help - I volunteered to take the photos - but the seeds and plants were planted and watered. Needless to say - plenty of beer was also consumed. So that's how Sunday afternoons are spent in Wau!