AFRICAN ENCOUNTER
Overland Safari Blog
January – May 1973
Part Eleven - Into Niger
After Zinder we met an Encounter
Overland truck going south, in the heat of the Desert, and apart from
exchanging greetings what did we do but have a game of football, I think they
provided the ball, and we lost! I can remember drinking gallons of tea once our
game had finished. I also remember picking up a graze on my arm which never
healed and when I showed it to my GP in Cambridge – he sent a sample to the
public health laboratory who grew something rather nasty from it, he said.
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| Touareg Camel riders |
It is one of the least developed countries and is also one of the poorest countries in the world. Some non-desert portions of the country (we didn't see them) underwent periodic drought and desertification. The economy is concentrated around subsistence agriculture, with some export agriculture in the less arid south, and export of raw materials, including uranium ore. It faces challenges to development due to its landlocked position, desert terrain, low literacy rate, jihadist insurgenies and the world's highest fertility rates due to birth control not being used and the resulting rapid population growth.
Its society reflects a diversity drawn from the independent histories of some ethnic groups and regions and their period living in a single state. Historically, Niger has been on the fringes of some states. Since independence, Nigeriens have lived under 5 constitutions and 3 periods of military rule. After the military coup in 2010, Niger became a multi-party state. A majority of the population lives in rural areas.
All of which is current information and might have been of interest at the time, but by now we didn't have a tube of sun screen between us, but we did have Water - which was vital. I recall buying at Goatskin which was used for holding water and could be hung from the side of the truck - and it kept the water COLD.
Niger from a Satellite, with the borders marked in yellow. It is noticeble that most of the country is Sand, and what is not Sand is Mountain - although at the bottom, where there is green marking the River Niger.
The next town on our route was Agadez, where
the principal feature was the Mosque with its tower, which had been built in
the style of other building in the area, with timber, sand and stones.
Agadez – the Main Road through the town.
Agadez – the Mosque with some of our party on top of the Tower
Toureg Shepherds and their Flock at a water tap
April 21 1973
By Zinder we had bee able, once again, sleep in the open under the stars, and I have never encountered such large and open skies as those that we saw as we lay in our sleeping bags. Watching the stars, and the passing satellites, from a position just lying on the camp-bed was one of those experiences which hs never been forgotten. The sand on which we laid our beds was very quick to cool and from what had been a very hot day we soon encountered what became a very cold night. It took me back to the very first night under the stars in South Africa where i lay in peace, only to be disturbed by one of our number exclaiming "Got to get an Assegai", clearly he was focussed on the need to collect a souvenir whicn, had he got one, could have landed him, and probably us, in all sorts of problems - we had been briefed that weapons of any sort were strictly forbidden.
Our Desert Campsite – early morning - we seem to have pitched camp on what, in the desert, passes for the road.
April 22 (Easter Day) – 23rd
I don’t think that I knew what the
Sahara was going to be like but it had quickly become apparent that is is not
just sand, there is quite a lot of terrain where the land surface comprises
stones and sand, and there is even some vegetation, most notably small trees
which somehow manage to exist from water which they have found from what are,
presumably very deep roots. Nor is the terrain flat, there are hills and
valleys and in one valley it became apparent that there was wildlife as well,
as we saw a deer running away and deeper into the desert. Sand dunes we also
saw, but not many. There was a well used route through the desert which was
marked by the tyre tracks of other vehicles, some very substantial, which were
plying their business across the desert. At some points though, the road had
ceased to be visible and had been covered with sand, and it was at such places
that we took down the sand-mats from the side of the truck and laid them down
to stop the truck becoming embedded in deep soft sand, it was at such times
that the four-wheel drive came into its own and helped us out of some tricky
situations.
It is difficult to realise that at
one time, long ago, the Sahara was reputedly the “grain basket of Europe”, and to wonder just what
happened to change the balance of nature, indeed, what, if any lessons should
have been learned, from that change.
In the desert there was something of
a community spirit which clearly enabled people to survive. Principal amongst
these people were the Touraegs with their trains of camels which we either
passed or saw at the Oases. These were the “blue men” of the desert and are
principally nomadic, but were happy to trade with us, I also bought what was essentially a duffel bag made from camel skin,
but died blue on the back-side which rather made it unusable back in England
but was clearly meant to be used by the local people.
Sleeping in the Desert at night was a
remarkable experience and one notone I had experienced elsewhere – the nights were clear
(no Moon) and the whole range of Stars, and Planets were visible as I lay on my
camp bed, giving space to reflect on the ageless and apparently unlimited
sccope of the Universe. We had been told in the EO brochure that we would learn
things about ourselves, where better than in the Sahara with innumerable
twinkling stars arrayed from millions of miles away.
A Toureg Camp in the Desert – it doesn't look very permanent
A closer view of the Toureg encampment with dwellings made of Camel
skins and sticks
A Watering Place in the Desert “non Potable” strictly for the animals
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