Electrical Storms

October 15, 2012

We just finished our mid-term weekend. It was pretty fun. The kids went tubing down the river, lots of swimming and playing in the playground, games, and sweets. Sleeping in was also very nice.

For the adults, they had a zip line set up over the pool. So you climb this big ant hill, then get a hold of the zip line thing and hang on and then let go over the pool. It was cool. It was a really hot day so it was really nice and refreshing.

It's really starting to rain more. The storms here are quite violent. The other day we had hail with the storm. I managed to take a few pictures.

I'm told that the Discovery Chanel was here two years ago filming an electrical storm (One of the crew actually got struck by lightning!) They are one of the worst in the world, as we are so close to the Congo Basin. I have never heard thunder so loud. And the lightning strikes are almost frightening. But I do enjoy them. It's pretty much impossible to sleep through though, so if it storms at night, everyone is cranky the next morning!

Also, the ground here is very red. I think it's very rich in iron or another metal, I forget. But it makes it very difficult to ground electricity. So when there's a storm, if it's really bad, sometimes you see you plug-ins spark. So you can't have anything plugged in during a storm. Many people have fried lap tops and other things because of this. It's pretty crazy.

Well I will keep this short for now. I need to get back to work.