Monuments

It seems Chadians have a penchant for glistening grandeur. Whether gifts from foreign governments, tributes to important figures (past or present), or displays of power, monuments are a very common site when driving around N’Djamena. In fact, the centre of pretty much every roundabout (and these are becoming increasingly prevalent) is adorned with some sort of monument!

We finally had our taxi tour last Friday after 2 postponements due to the water situation at SIL. John brought the camera on our tour, but he was extremely frustrated with the lack of opportunities to take photos. This was in no way creditable to the tour, but rather as (a directed) precaution against serious reprimand – especially in areas with a lot of people. The camera spent most of its time on the floor of the taxi, hidden beneath his feet.

Much to Katie’s nervous displeasure, he did try at every opportunity to snap discrete photos of interesting sites. Usually Katie has quicker with her hands than John was lining up his shots, so wifey normally won out and the camera was thrust below window level before he could get a shot off [insert annoyed glare from husband here]. Funnily enough, as it was the monuments that were least likely to angrily react to being the subject of photos, the few photos he managed to take were indeed of monuments. Here are the few that weren’t too blurry to share...

The 100yr roundabout - constructed in the early 2000's to commemorate 100yrs since French colonisation

Sponsored by banks? This monument seems to have been built with water
features - maybe they run in the wet season, when there is water. 

This massive new arch [one level of scaffolding would be as tall as a man with his arms raised] was built in the brand new palace
 parade ground for the 50yrs of independence celebrations. They didn't get it finished in time, so the red, yellow and blue you see
 is the remnants of the crepe paper they wrapped it in to achieve the originally desired effect!

Not sure what the story is behind these fellas.
Golden calves? 

These two also reside at the new palace parade grounds. They face the main palace gates.