'Tis the Season of Dust

Each year we experience the phenomenon of Harmattan - it is the season in which the winds blow sand in from the Sahara Desert.  It stretches far across West Africa ... I have friends in Togo who speak of receiving "our" dust from Niger!  And recently I heard, via a friend's son who watches the National Geographic documentaries, that the Harmattan sands blow all the way to the amazon rainforest and contribute to the diverse ecosystem there!

We can go for stretches of days when we cannot see the sun due to the sand hovering in the air! When we can see the sun - it is so hazy that it doesn't hurt to look at it!

Sunday was a dusty and hazy day!

It is at this time of year that I somewhat giggle to think of how my life compares to that of friends and family back home in Canada ... while you are spending your days shoveling out of falling snow and piling snowbanks here there and everywhere!

.... young men and boys of Niger converge on the neighbourhood roads with a vengeance and shovels to attack the drifting sands and pile sandbanks here there and everywhere! 

Hoping that the passing drivers will give a monetary gift as thanks for their work so their cars don't get stuck.  Making our roads passable, for even with the 4x4 I have on my truck, navigating the deep sand piles is difficult!  I can imagine many a taxi would be stuck without the service of these guys!

The pervading sand seems to have lasted longer this year than normal ... lasting well into March!  And as the blowing sand continues - the sand piles grow higher and higher!