Two weeks ago, I was out riding with my father, as we’ve been doing every weekend since getting back to Niger. I wanted to take him to one of my favourite hilltops in the Zinder bush, but was met by the Dadin Serki tapki (seasonal lake), which had eaten up the dirt road. It look potentially crossable, but knowing of Arwen’s love for water (this was the very lake she dived into last year, with me still on her back…) and seeing there were no people around to ask how high the water level was, we did not risk it.

This past Sunday saw our last outing together before my father heads back to Europe, and since it stopped raining a while ago, we figured we’d check the water level and see if we could cross over to the other side.

Two boys were letting their oxes have a drink. I asked about the water level, and they said it was about one meter. We decided to give it a try.

My dad rode out first, and I stayed behind with the camera.

Having never waded through water before, Sahara did a good job going first.

Once my dad and Sahara had crossed over to the other side, the boys followed with their ox carts.

I enjoyed a moment taking pictures in the beautiful setting light,

…then asked Arwen to follow.

I hurried her at first, not wanting her to stop to play,

…but once she realised there was a mission (crossing over to the other side), she was fine.

No plans of stoppping to play this time!

The view forward and backwards

We made it to the other side with only our boots getting wet, and although the lights were going out (making it impossible to take any motion pictures), we continued into the country and ambled home in the dark.

For more watery experiences, click here!