mardi 28 octobre 2008

The Rainy Season

The rainy season passed with four or five real storms, followed by two wickedly hot, dry months. In the last few weeks, it's been cold enough at night to sleep under one or two sheets. Sometimes I'll even turn off the fan, but the flies usually start buzzing around my face, so it goes back on, which helps to chase them away. For the next six months, the temperatures in Nouakchott won't be too bad. Most afternoons will briefly peak in the low nineties before it starts to cool off again in the evening. The problem now is that the strong winds kick up constant dust and sand storms which make some afternoons feel like your walking through smoke. The dust gets into everything, your nose, your ears, your eyes and even inside the house, with all the doors and windows shut, making spring cleanings a twice weekly necessity.

The cold season here seems to last much longer than in the interior of the country. In February and March, I'll hear volunteers in the interior start complaining about the temperatures, but here in Nouakchott it actually gets cooler in those months. The hot air covering the interior sucks the cold ocean air up, directly through Nouakchott. The wind shifts from the east and the air becomes noticeably moist, with thick blankets of fog some mornings.