Chada Update...

We're back from the Keys, and it's actually a relief to be back on African soil.

Nomad's building specialist, Kennedy, called us this morning to report that the decks he and his crew are making for Chada's Library and Mess tents are coming along well.  In fact, the mess tent deck is complete, and work on the Library deck is, uh, temporarily on stand-by.

Kennedy, a boss who isn't afraid to get his hands dirty.

 One funny thing is, I could picture exactly where Kennedy was standing as we talked because there is only one place within miles where a cell phone can work.  Mercifully, the magic phone spot is under a giant Tamarind tree providing nice shade.

Back to the reason Ken was calling...
Two of the trucks carrying the timber needed for the deck are stuck in the mud somewhere in the park, but Kennedy has a plan.  He has gone to the nearest town to try to rent a tractor, which will then be driven for hours to the place where the trucks are stuck.  With any luck, and with some strong chains, probably a bit of digging, and hopefully a reprieve from the rain for an afternoon or two, everything should be just fine...touch wood.

The upside is...we'll have new decks by May, which promises to provide an excellent new venue for guests to relax, read and scan the plains for wildlife. And the way the decks have been designed, return visitors to Chada camp might not even notice the change;  they'll just have a mysterious, sneaking feeling that something is a little bit better, sharper.  

Marathon Key, Florida



Key West Sunset

 The Florida Keys...beautiful...

Everyone is extrememy nice here, but there is something slightly...different about many of the people of the Keys.  Nothing too obvious, just a feeling that things move to the beat of a different drum on this winter-weather-escapists' sprawling archipelago of America's finest eccentric specimens.  Have a look at the local flavour.

U.S. National Park Ranger

Bi-Plane Pilot (in uniform)

One of Willy Nelson's cousins...maybe.