View of the surface station at the airport in Ziguinchor.

Javier Murillo with the met station personnel. Note the elevated platform, especially built for pilot balloon observations.

Javier Murillo checking the alignment of the theodolite using the sun azimuth method.

Closer view of the theodolite alignment process.

Original log recorded in February 1962 showing reference angles for alignment of the theodolite.

Mr. Amadou Maiga, chief of station, and Javier Murillo, fixing the inflation nozzle.

Mr. Amadou Maiga, inflating one of our 30-gram balloons.

The gas preparer taking the balloon to the launching platform (about 150m appart from the inflation shelter.)

Tracking the balloon with the Tamaya (Japanese brand) theodolite. Notice the platform height is not adjustable, forcing a tall observer to bend.

Mr. Maiga tracking the pilot balloon and closer look of the Tamaya theodolite. Notice the elevated gunsights and the reduced-size theodolite base, both needed for tracking at high elevation angles.

Bright-colored flowers by the balloon inflation shelter.

Grasshoper. There were many of them on the grass around the balloon shelter.

Silvestre (left), the gas preparer and our guide around Ziguinchor. Here with Javier Murillo.

Firefighters wait in our hotel’s courtyard. Notice the exuberant vegetation in the background.

Sunset in Ziguinchor by the river bank.

Javier Murillo standing near one of many boat shops on this street along the river. Dust from the Saharan desert in the atmosphere may be the origin of the warm colors in this picture.

Javier Murillo (left) and Jose Galvez. On our way back to the hotel after a walk along the riverside.

The river bank is full of trash for the most part.

Promotional ad for Casamance, the region along the river, between Gambia and Guinea Bissau, where Ziguinchor is located.

Javier Murillo (left) and Jose Galvez. The Casamance river is in the background.

Street scene. The fairly heavy rain that fell on this day had not quite stopped.