Jan 21, 2008 - Nguigmui via Diffa ***********

The bus we left on at 7 was a masterpiece of metal and motor held together by sheer willpower! Every time the driver shifted gears it sounded like he used a hammer! Jan 21 Bus was actually quite comfortable even w/ bench seats since we had more leg room and at least 3 windows were lacking so plenty of breeze(later we would regret this). We got on right away to "grab" our seats and then watched the landscape crawl by...green bush/trees and evidence of lots of crops(dried stalks & stubs). They use the stalks for fencing, etc. Further we went...

Jan 20, 2008 - Zinder

This is the slowest internet I think I have ever been at...tried and failed to upload just 2 pics...took 20 min and by then I had lost the site and the pics! We left Niamey at 6 am...Abdul drove us to station. Was to be a 12 hour trip, bus was filled with Hag Muslims returning so we stopped for prayers regularly even when we had previously stopped just half hour before "prayer time"! Had a flat tire which took 45 min and at least a fourth of the road was potholes or gravel due to road reconstruction. We had planned to get to Zinder early...

Jan 16, 2008 - Cotonou+Niamey, Niger

Actually, we came in to this fine town late in the day of the 15th from PortoNovo since our bus tickets indicated that we would leave at 2 am the morning of 16th for the 15 hour ride to Niamey, Niger. We had a fine Chinese dinner near the station, then I went next door for a big dish of ice cream where we sat around til almost 11. Jake and I went to the station and the fellow there provided us with mattresses so we could rest...Bon and Mari showed up later. Unfortunately, there were a few too many mosquitoes to relax so didn't rest well....

Dec 9, 2007 - Kanazi

On Niger River to see hippos! Dec 9 Trip to see hippos included a stop at the village on the other side of the Niger which was very enlightening since we could actually see how the people in the countryside live. Pics show much of their lives, school room (3 classes a day with approx 14 in each), kitchen areas, cattle areas, grain storage-upside down cones, garden plots, etc. If Marta and Enrico were not with us we probably would not have been able to understand or interact (picturewise?) as much if at all. Their facility with the language...

Dec 5, 2007 - Niamey, NIGER

Bus 370+ km to Niamey was best bus ride yet...comfortable, reg. bus bus, on time(left at 6am arr. at 530pm), easy border crossing even w/ 1+hr wait. Countryside gradually getting dryer...Thun(Anthony-Dutch fellow retired UN) remembers jungle(big trees & animals) in NE Burkina Faso some 30 yrs ago now all clear cut just scrub brush and no trees over 20 ft. tall. He says the laterite soil is very thin & easy to wash out get played out. Most subsistance farmers used to cultivate crop and then let lie falloz 2-3 yrs. At border I bought a bag of...