Yoghurt

There's two types of yoghurt in Gamba. Actually, there's one type of yoghurt and a 'dairy dessert' that doesn't require refrigeration until open. I'm not sure that counts as yoghurt. Anyways, I've been craving a big pot of yoghurt to dig into and as the other yoghurt (plain, made in Libreville) only comes in dinky little 125 gram pots I thought I'd have a bash at making my own. Without a thermometer. Or a yoghurt maker. And only long life milk. Here's how...



1. Pour 1 litre of milk into a saucepan and heat. Keep dipping your finger (preferably clean) in the milk until it's too hot to keep in there and little bubbles are just appearing.



2. Pour milk into a bowl to cool a little, until it's comfortable to keep your finger in. This only takes a few minutes.






3. Put 2 cups of milk into another bowl and add 2 tablespoons of yoghurt. Mix every now and then for 5 minutes.



4. Mix the yoghurty-milk back in with the warm milk then transfer to whatever containers you want the yoghurt to set in. Or a jug covered in a plastic bag if you live in the jungles of Africa and all your worldly goods including Tupperware containers are on a ship somewhere between Australia and Gabon.






5. Place a towel in the bottom of an esky. Put in the yoghurt and bottles filled with boiling water. Cover with another towel and a picnic blanket. Close lid and leave for between 12 and 24 hours, changing the hot water after about 8 hours.

Voila, fresh yoghurt! Sans sugar, Kt Mac get on it!

I'm not sure this is exactly orthodox yoghurt making but it works for us. Yoghurt, glorious yoghurt!

Sometimes Knowing People...

We have some beautiful friends. These particular beautiful friends are good people to know...not only because they have beautiful hearts and are very kind...but because they own Oakvale Farm.

Yesterday Kenzi got up close and personal inside enclosures with all manner of animal life. Needless to say she was fulfilled, satisfied and renewed in her dream to be an animal doctor who may or may not do a bit of acting on the side!

Monkeys!

Our afternoon walk took a different route when we saw our neighbour running home to get her camera because the monkeys were on the golf course road.

When we got there the only monkey we could see was a furry blob up a tree far from the side of the road and one that ran across the road a long way from where we were. I was still mega excited and would have been happy with that.

Nothing else happened for 20 minutes and we were all starting to go home when the monkeys descended chattering like parrots (I actually mistook their cry for a bird and was going to leave but thankfully our neighbour knew otherwise).

Big ones, little ones, medium sized ones. Babies being carried by their mumma's, big daddies going first, toddler monkeys scampering across the road under the watchful eye of both parents. Our neighbour got some beautiful shots on her big camera but you guys will have to live with iPhone shots:


Daddy on the pipe, littlie scampering across in the middle, mumma on the left (the mum monkeys are quite small).


Some of them darted across like lightening and others just strolled.


A bit blurry but this mumma is carrying a baby on her tummy.

Life is definitely different to how it's been but I love that today Langlan was flying his paper airplane with the French-speaking security guard in our front garden, I was singing English worship songs with our Gabonese gardener beside the house and we finished the day drinking sweet, milky Indian tea in Bindiya's beautiful garden with her mum and mum-in-law from Delhi and Bangalore. Life is varied but sweet.