Engine trouble

Yesterday we arranged for a ride in a pirogue with the hotel.  We met with the guide at 7 am.  First we had to walk through the city to get to the banks of the Niger River to where the guide had a boat waiting.  He was going to great efforts; pointing out noteworthy buildings as we passed by, he even had awnings and cushions placed in the pirogue for our comfort.  We were all ready to go, loaded in the boat with binoculars in hand until we heard the dreaded putt putt.  Despite everything else being in place, the guide could not get the engine to set into gear.

Waiting for the engine to start

While waiting for the engine to be fixed, we got to watch the life by the river; all of the children coming for their washing and sneaking in some play in the meantime.  Our guide was not having such a good time though; poor guy.  He was doing everything he could to get it fixed and called all sorts of people to come and have a look at it.  We ended up postponing the trip for tomorrow morning to give him a chance to get the engine properly fixed.

Sunsetting on the Niger River

Nobody slept a wink last night it seems.  Between the fierce heat and the raucous pub crawlers, we decided to change locations and get a proper hotel.  We packed up and demanded the 1,000 CFA change they owed us from yesterday and left straight away.  We tried to find the Malian embassy; it was supposed to be on the same street as the campground.  We drove around in circles asking every person we saw until we finally learned that the embassy relocated to a brand new building next to the U.S. embassy.

The staff there was exceptionally nice.  We got our visas on the same day, not nearly as expensive as Niger but still costly.  We tried to find a hotel that was listed in the Lonely Planet and couldn’t find it either, again, another moved location since the printing of the book.   We were so thankful for this hotel, the rooms had air-conditioning and there was even a pool that actually had water in it!  We spent the hottest parts of the day bobbing around in the pool.  We met an interesting Tuareg guy who works as a guide bringing people through the Sahara.

Expat Central

Nearby there was a fancy hotel so we walked over only intending to have a sundowner drink and gaze at the Niger river but we ended up staying for dinner also.  The place was crawling with expats.  Even the band that was singing was comprised of expats!  It was a surreal day filled with air-con, pools, Italian cuisine, and about 50 expat aid workers; the luxury of it all was welcomed.

A family of giraffes

After all of these days on the road, we have finally encountered an African success story!  The giraffes of West Africa were nearly extinct; down to 50 giraffes in the wild.  In the late 90s, the government established a reserve in Koure and they began to take measures to protect the remaining giraffes.  Each year their numbers steadily climb and they are now probably more than 200.  It was clear that the animals really are well protected, they would easily let us get a 100 meters from them without panicking.  David laid down on the ground and the giraffes would be very curious and get close to see what is happening.  I gave it a try also and I could actually hear the giraffe sniffing me.  When Bobby tried it, he had about 5 giraffes inspecting him.  They were getting very close until he lifted his head slightly to get a glance and he startled them all away.

The giraffes taking a whiff of Bobby laying on the ground.

It was amazing to walk amongst them; they didn’t seem to mind at all.  Peta said that these giraffes are very different from the ones they see at home in South Africa.  Their base color is very light, nearly white, enabling them to blend in with the arid environment and sands.  The reserve was close to Niamey, we arrived at a camp ground just on the outskirts of town.  IT had a bar, restaurant, hotel; you name it!  We will relax a bit with some cold drinks; it was a great day.

These goats were lucky enough to make it to Agadez.

We set off early on the road to Agadez.  Surprisingly, the road was in good condition and we didn’t have any trouble with the first checkpoints.  We bought the toll tickets and again, no problem.  It wasn’t until we were about two hours away from Agadez that the military checkpoint told us to turn back.  The officer brought us over to the main office in the town we had just passed.   We had to explain to about 10 officers why we want to go to Agadez.  We showed them all of our guide books and the pictures from the Canadian magazine that we came across.  We explained that we want to see the Air Mountains, the Tenere desert, and the Cure Salee; all of which we were told is impossible.  There has been some unrest with the nomadic Tuareg people in the area and the area is considered unstable.  The whole time, a Tuareg man was trying to sell us his trinkets and we ended up buying some necklaces.

Despite our explanations, the military would not permit us to carry on to Agadez and insisted that we turn around the way we came.  We passed Birnin Koni nearly the same time we had arrived yesterday.  We ended up finding quite a good campsite off the highway in the savannah here.  We are in a small cluster of bushes and trees that is shielding as from the open areas and we are lower and further from the road.  We will go to see the giraffes tomorrow and then to Niamey to restock; Bobby and I are out of money and the beer supply is out.

No more famine; healthy looking kids running around

We left Zinder fairly late and arrived in Maradi for lunch.  While we were in the local hotel/restaurant we met a group of consultants for the UN.  It was not a surprise to see such a large presence of foreign aid workers here.  Niger is one of the poorest countries in the world and the famine in 2005 caused by drought and a plague of locusts certainly did not help matters.  These consultants were all here advising on the crops since the famine to ensure they have sufficient amount of food.  Luckily, the harvests since have been good and there had been enough rainfall and the granaries are filling up.

They asked us if we were headed to Agadez, which we explained that we would like to but we were told at the embassy that it isn’t permitted.  One of the men was a Nigerien and he told us that we can go to Agadez but we will need a guide once we get there; as long as we are supervised it should be alright.  That changed our plans just knowing that we will at least be able to drive there and find out for ourselves.

The weather is fiercely hot.  Even with the windows open, the air hitting us was extremely uncomfortable. We pulled into a tourist camp in Birnin Koni for the night and of course as soon as we arrive all sorts of hawkers enter and start laying out their wares.  I was so dehydrated and potentially suffering from heat exhaustion and was truly not able to even feign interest in their goods.  Of course when you seem uninterested then they start lowering prices, which is still irrelevant when you don’t want anything.  I would have paid a fortune however, for a nice cold drink.  They luckily sold cold cokes, so I bought one while all the hawkers followed.  I kept on repeating to them, “I don’t want to talk business, I just want to drink my coke”.

There were plenty of granaries

At this campsite Bobby came across a magazine that wrote about the Cure Salée festival which should be happening now.  This is the event where the Tuareg and Wodaabe pastoralist tribes come together bringing their flocks to refresh themselves at the salt flats and watering holes and use this chance to exchange news and is a great event for cultural performances.  This is the event where the Wodaabe males adorn themselves in costume and performance as a part of a courtship ritual.  It would be remarkable to get a chance to witness this event.  With luck, we will make it!

The royal quarters

Today we visited the very sorry Sultan’s Palace. It appeared to be an impressive mud bricked structure from the outside but was stark and crumbling in the inside.  We lingered outside for a few minutes trying to get information on the chances of us visiting.  Everyone was very nice but kept on insisting that we needed a guide.  Within a few minutes a man with sunglasses (possibly the first person we have seen with sunglasses so far) shows up riding on the back of a motorbike. He was very pushy and insisting that we needed to hire him for the entire day; we just wanted to quickly take a peek inside the palace.

We finally agreed that we would just visit the palace, and despite our insistence that we do not want a full tour he gave it anyway.  He spoke far too much.  Being that I was the only one who spoke French, his long soliloquies were boring to everyone.  I tried to make him pause so that I could translate but this annoyed him.  He insisted that we need to pay him more because he is doing twice the work since he provides his explanations and then has to wait for me to translate.

Look! Gris-gris!

During his speech, if one of the others was not looking at what he was describing (despite not understanding what he was talking about since he didn’t like me translating) he would get very upset and ask me immediately if they do not find this interesting.  Really there wasn’t much to see inside but mud bricked walls and some gris-gris (voodoo charms) hanging from the doorway.

It had to be the hottest weather we have experienced today.  When we got back to the campsite I had to stand in the cold shower with all my clothes on just to cool off.  It was a pity because the clothes dried so quickly, but it gave about 40 minutes of relief.

Setting up camp in Zinder

Things went surprisingly smoothly today.  We travelled to the border on a road that, of course, did not correspond with the three different maps that we have on hand.  Well, at least we arrived at the correct crossing point just the same.   Nigeria was much simpler getting out of than in.  The security officer there was the first one to actually ask to see our yellow fever vaccinations.  I had grown so used to the officers not asking that I stopped having it on hand and had to dig it out of my bag.  David went in alone to the office in the Nigerien side and we waited with the car.  While waiting, we met a Peace Corps volunteer who was literally on her first day at site.

This was the first place we weren’t able to change money easily.  The guys at the border were offering terrible rates that were basically robbing us.  So we didn’t change any money and just held on to our Nigerian Nairas.  Luckily, we were able to pay the tolls in Naira.  We arrived in Zinder and all the banks were closed.  Had lunch in a restaurant but had to convince the waiter to let us pay in Naira since everything was shut down.  He himself tried to find us a money changer with no luck.  We will just have to go to the bank first thing in the morning.  It is unbelievably hot here.  Even in Northern Nigeria the nights were starting to be unbearable, I am nervous to see how hot it will be tonight.