This past weekend, a long-time dream finally took place -and you know how those are always worth waiting for! Thanks to the Aussie saddle that Paige had brought out for us, my father was finally able to join me for a ride in the bush!!

My father with his parents and sister in Australia (1971)

He used [...]

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Although most of our days tend to be busy, this past weekend was busier than ever (in a good way). Between horseback riding, house cleaning (mostly done by our guest Hanna from Sweden) and heading off to dinner at my father’s, we managed to squeeze in an excursion to the Zinder market.

Much to Hanna’s delight, [...]

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I had a fabulous weekend - so fabulous that I can’t even make up my mind what to blog about! I went riding with Anette, Hanna and then my father - his first ride in 38 years since his teenage years in Australia (!!), went to the market with Hanna, had a coke at the [...]

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…and Hanna is already solar cooking! The end result was a very filling, tasty, vegetable-rich omelet which included onions, leeks, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes and spices. I love when other people cook! We served it with some solar cooked millet bread to the side. And for dessert, we had some delicious mangoes and citrus fruit!

Red grapefruit [...]

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When Illami (the gorgeous grey stallion that Isolde fell in love with) was staying with us, we asked his owner Paige if it was possible for her to bring out a western saddle for us, as not only are western saddles very expensive in Sweden, but bringing any kind of saddle with us when we [...]

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I just wanted to say - before the fine-fine Nigerien dust comes seeping into our house again - that in time for Hanna’s arrival, Anette and I spent many, many hours spring cleaning the house to make it look at its very best and boy did it shine! Now that our guest has arrived, we [...]

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Every night, the sun goes down over the Zinder bush, but unlike man-made things, the sky always leaves its unique touch.

I know the Zinder bush like the back of my hand, and yet, I am always full of expectations to see what the particular sunset of the day will be like.

Every afternoon, there is the [...]

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This past Saturday, we got up very early in the morning, in order to attend the opening ceremony (called a ‘Fatia’) of a wedding at the other end of town. This was Hanna’s first real excursion in the “real Zinder”, after visiting Ishtar’s Ark, Eden Street, the Eden office and the nearby bush.

The wedding was [...]

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When Baloo heard he came out as a softie in his last post, he decided to save his image and toughen up! No one was more pleased than Sheba herself, who has been longing desperately for an RR wrestling partner!

Here are the highlights!

Sheba charges!

Baloo answers by locking jaws!

Sheba charges again!

Baloo answers with a sweet kiss [...]

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Right from the start, it was obvious that our first born filly Isolde yar’Arwen was not like “ordinary” horses. Unlike Kalahari and foals in general, she was instinctively drawn to humans, and always tried harder to copy human behavior than equine. At first, we did not think so much about it (after all, everyone is [...]

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After months of planning, my dear friend Hanna is finally here! She was the one I visited in Falun during my last stay in Sweden. She landed in Nigeria with my father a few days ago and will be staying for two months. Both of us are still pretty much “I can’t believe you/I’m finally [...]

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I have a favourite sky… It’s bright blue, and it likes to cover my bushland. No matter how hot it is, and regardless of how my day has been, this piece of blue always cheers me up. If a sky could be labeled life qualitish, this would be it!
For more skies around the world, check [...]

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Remember Isolde’s trail? We had just crossed the not-so-trafficked Jacques Chirac road. She was in a discovery mood and our barb mounts were cheerful horses, as always! This was without a doubt our longest tour this season, and what I love about riding out on a cool Saturday morning is that you can just keep [...]

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