There is a magical song circa 1980-something by the band Toto. I'm sure you've heard it at one point or another and, if you haven't, you should look it up. Its titled "Africa" and every time it rains, I have the overwhelming urge to play it on my MP3 player.
Rain in Africa is unlike rain anywhere else in the world. First, the entire sky darkens in a way that suggests the end of the world is coming but, instead of ferocious, apocalyptic winds, the dark sky is accompanied by a light breeze.... and its on this soft breeze that you first smell it; the coming rain. If you've ever lived in a desert, then you'll understand what I mean when I describe the smell of rain as a cross between wet dirt and fresh air. If you've never lived in a desert or other typically dry climate, that probably sounds pretty unappealing but, trust me when I say that, in places where rain is an in-frequent visitor, its one of the sweetest smells on Earth.
Generally speaking, there is nothing "light" about rain in Africa. In fact, in most parts of Africa that I've been to, there is usually so much time between rains that, when the heavens finally burst, people going into shock and hide in their huts. The rain beats the ground mercilessly as if it were trying to force its moisture into the dry, cracked ground. Out of surprise or sheer lack of capacity, the ground seems to reject the moisture and instead of going into the earth, the rain water runs along the cracked ground forming streams, and rivers, and lakes and floods. This can last for minutes or hours and then, suddenly, just like that, the rain stops... As if someone had simply reached over and turned off a gushing faucet.
I wouldn't necessarily classify Lagos as a "desert climate" but, rain here certainly occurs in a similar sort of a way to the more "deserty'' places I've been. Despite its slightly more tropical tendencies which might imply that it should rain all the time, Lagos still has a specific "dry"and a specific "rainy" season much like the majority of the American continent has "summer" and "winter"... and all those other seasons in between. Although rainy season doesn't officially begin here until April, this year has been unusually wet for Lagos (global climate change, anyone?) and we've been treated to several thunderstorms since we've been here - the most recent of which was today.
As Lagos is a large commercial center, there isn't the same overwhelming smell of rain that precedes a downpour and, as there is little unpaved earth for the rain water to moisturize, the rain collects in much larger rivers and lakes on the streets, cars and bridges. These rivers and lakes of rain water push the large amounts of garbage on the streets into the open sewers and, if it rains long enough, the open sewers eventually spill over, flooding the streets with their polluted contents. Although the rain kindly reduces the amount of choking smog and filthy pollution in the air, the increasingly toxic ground makes the arrival of rain both a blessing and a curse.
When it rains here in Lagos, I wonder what this place looked like 40, 50...100, 200 years ago. Before the advent of traffic and garbage and concrete, I imagine the rain fell on banana trees and cassava fields and straw-topped huts. I imagine that, while waiting for the rain to pass, children would gather around for stories and parents would take the time to impart wisdom, values, culture, and history. I imagine that, after the rains passed, the children would then run into the puddles of rain water, laughing and splashing each other in the cool fresh water. I imagine all of this because this is what still happens when it rains today in rural Niger..... and it makes me a little sad to think that, as Lagos grows and grows and attempts to become more ''modern,'' the rain starts to lose its magic. Instead of being a beautiful blessing, rain in Lagos seems to become a transportaion burden and a health hazard. As I watch the rain water collect garbage in the filthy street I wonder:
What children would want to play in a puddle of sewage?
And then I wonder if this is what Toto meant when they ''blessed the rains down in Africa.''
Rain in Africa is unlike rain anywhere else in the world. First, the entire sky darkens in a way that suggests the end of the world is coming but, instead of ferocious, apocalyptic winds, the dark sky is accompanied by a light breeze.... and its on this soft breeze that you first smell it; the coming rain. If you've ever lived in a desert, then you'll understand what I mean when I describe the smell of rain as a cross between wet dirt and fresh air. If you've never lived in a desert or other typically dry climate, that probably sounds pretty unappealing but, trust me when I say that, in places where rain is an in-frequent visitor, its one of the sweetest smells on Earth.
Generally speaking, there is nothing "light" about rain in Africa. In fact, in most parts of Africa that I've been to, there is usually so much time between rains that, when the heavens finally burst, people going into shock and hide in their huts. The rain beats the ground mercilessly as if it were trying to force its moisture into the dry, cracked ground. Out of surprise or sheer lack of capacity, the ground seems to reject the moisture and instead of going into the earth, the rain water runs along the cracked ground forming streams, and rivers, and lakes and floods. This can last for minutes or hours and then, suddenly, just like that, the rain stops... As if someone had simply reached over and turned off a gushing faucet.
I wouldn't necessarily classify Lagos as a "desert climate" but, rain here certainly occurs in a similar sort of a way to the more "deserty'' places I've been. Despite its slightly more tropical tendencies which might imply that it should rain all the time, Lagos still has a specific "dry"and a specific "rainy" season much like the majority of the American continent has "summer" and "winter"... and all those other seasons in between. Although rainy season doesn't officially begin here until April, this year has been unusually wet for Lagos (global climate change, anyone?) and we've been treated to several thunderstorms since we've been here - the most recent of which was today.
As Lagos is a large commercial center, there isn't the same overwhelming smell of rain that precedes a downpour and, as there is little unpaved earth for the rain water to moisturize, the rain collects in much larger rivers and lakes on the streets, cars and bridges. These rivers and lakes of rain water push the large amounts of garbage on the streets into the open sewers and, if it rains long enough, the open sewers eventually spill over, flooding the streets with their polluted contents. Although the rain kindly reduces the amount of choking smog and filthy pollution in the air, the increasingly toxic ground makes the arrival of rain both a blessing and a curse.
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| A Nigerian Tuk-Tuk in the Rain |
What children would want to play in a puddle of sewage?
And then I wonder if this is what Toto meant when they ''blessed the rains down in Africa.''
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| A tire is consumed by sewage/rain water |
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| A minibus ("bush taxi") takes shelter under a scraggly tree |
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| A road-side vendor tries to prevent the open sewer from flooding into her shop by attempting to unplug the dams of garbage blocking the flow of rainwater/sewage. |
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