I wish you could look through my eyes right now! I'm sipping my morning coffee in our camp in Kilishi village, site of borehole #1, Bobi grazing reserve. Fresh bread awaits on a little table under the mango tree. Emman is drawing water from the existing well for his laundry, freaked out because the well is so deep and now has a young Fulani boy helping him. Newborn baby goats sleep quietly against the mud wall. (They're sleeping now because they bleated their little heads off all night long, just outside my tent!) Fulani elders sit chattering on a nearby mat while their children sweep the yard all round. The village cows are still sitting too, just feet away, waiting for their herdsmen to take them to the dam for water. Goats are everywhere! It's a beautiful and peaceful scene.

After checking in with both federal and state agric officials in Minna, the capital of Niger state, we drove to the reserve. Had a serious flat tire just a few miles out, which delayed us for over an hour. The reserve leaders were waiting for us at Sabon Gwari - they immediately accompanied us to Kilishi and showed us where we could sleep. I set up my tent on one veranda just in front of the well; the police, Danjuma and Emman put their mattresses on the adjacent verandas. I'm taking pictures, but the network here is not carrying them; once I get back to Abuja, all the pictures will come at once.

We're waiting for Aliyu, who is buying all the equipment for the four Bobi boreholes. Hopefully he'll be here today or latest, tomorrow.

Phyllis