Fauna and Flora

I thought it would be nice to give you a glimpse of the plants and animals we've encountered around Mbingo.  My little apartment is connected by a breezeway to the Palmer's house.  Dr. Palmer is the IM residency director, and he and his wife are currently back in the U.S.  The Palmers have a helper named Bridget who has been assigned to help take care of me while I'm here.  She has been so gracious during my stay so far, keeping me supplied with filtered water, washing and drying my laundry when needed, and keeping my room spic and span.  Her young son has the responsibility of tending the Palmers flower gardens while they are on leave.  Some of the plants and flowers are from those gardens, others are from around the hospital compound grounds, and some are from the couple of hikes we've been able to take.  Cameroon has some pretty exotic and cool-looking flowers...

Flower growing on the mountainside where we took our first hike

Banana trees grow all over the hillsides.  Not sure what the central hanging part is...or if it's edible.  I'll have to ask.

Such an interesting looking plant.  It almost looks like a colorful pine cone growing on stem.

View from behind Emiley and Karen's place

Eucalyptus trees are pretty ubiquitous here

Huge palm growing right in front of the Palmer's house.  Just the leaf part is almost as tall as me.

What a view!  God's grandeur displayed.  This is the view in back of the Ritchey's house...a little jealous they get this view every day!

Looks like a little pink pineapple growing in the middle of this plant...but it's not.

There are quite a few critters hanging around the hospital compound too.  It's not uncommon to see tons of grasshoppers (which the Cameroonians love to fry and eat!), praying mantises, termites, and ants all around the hospital, both outside and inside at times.

I thought this was a pretty good capture

Ants everywhere!  The Palmers have an outdoor cat that is still living here, and this is her food bowl.  They feed her leftovers, but she wasn't too interested in the rice.  I guess it's not a problem then that the ants are overtaking it.  Don't leave any snacks lying around uncovered--it's an open invitation for ants to attack.

The cat would rather eat the mouse she caught.  She devoured the whole thing in probably less than 2 minutes.

A small gecko outside the Bardin's house

This was my little friend I found as I walked into my bathroom one morning.  Sadly, he is no longer with us on the earth.

Hope you enjoyed.  Will post again soon!