It’s been great having our friends, the Vickers family with us for the Easter break. It’s been fun showing them round Cotonou and beyond. They’ve had fun too – but not all the time! Read on…

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After a couple of lovely days by the beach last week, we headed back to Cotonou. On the journey back, the hydraulics failed on the Land Rover and we were stranded about 10 miles from home. Lois, Jackie and all the kids caught a taxi, whilst the blokes stayed to try and get the car mended. When this proved almost impossible by the roadside, we made the decision to start the car in first gear and chug on back to Cotonou like that! Bit slow (and sorry, Andy M from Flitton, if this was the wrong thing to do!) The car is sorted within a couple of days and we’re mobile again.

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On Easter Sunday, we were all up with the lark for a Sunrise Service, but with a difference! It was not on a hill (as there are no hills in Cotonou) but by the beach! Here we are during the service (see who you can recognize):

After the service, the children played on the beach. Here are Ruthie and Beth in their matching African outfits on the beach:

After the service, our friends’ daughter, Harriet, began to feel ill, with stomach pains and dire-rear. It became clear she wasn’t just going to get better, so on Monday she was admitted into a local private clinic (Clinique Mahouna, the same place where Rob went for his malaria test in October). She’s kept in for 2 nights, put on a drip and not allowed to eat for 24 hours. It turns out she has a amoeba infection. The drugs work fast and she’s feeling better by Tuesday and comes out Wednesday morning. Here are the family in the clinic on Tuesday afternoon:

Thanks for all your prayers. She’s doing fine now. We had to cancel our trip up north to the Pendjari Park – not to worry, we’ve still done plenty of stuff more locally. Yesterday, we visited a tropical forest managed by a Swiss man and today we went to Songhai, a fascinating organic farm in Porto Novo, which we enjoyed. Here are both families back together (taken by Lois) after Harriet came out of hospital:

Tomorrow, we’re having breakfast with some good friends of ours, the Mittons, then we’re chilling out by the pool! On Sunday evening, our friends fly back to England. It’s been so great to have them here, in spite of the difficulties, and we’ll really miss them when they leave.
That’s all for now – thanks for visiting.