Notes from a Broad
The REST... of the story
Another shot of that amazing gorge
Elephants have big feet!! These tracks were at a
watering hole that had long since dried up.
Alas, this is the closest I came to seeing a lion.
Eric and I took a walk through the park and there were tracks along most
of the trail- it was one of my favorite parts of the whole trip. The footprint
in the upper left is a lion; lower right is a baboon .
This is just interesting topography we passed while
on the large mammal survey.
The dry season dries up the rivers forces the animals
to migrate to find water.
During the first week we took a trip to a town called
Torodi where there's another Peace Corps hostel. While we were there we
visited several of the bush villages surrounding Torodi to tell the villagers
that new volunteers would be arriving soon.
These are some huts near Torodi.
Wednesday, December 9
We went out in a truck and visited some bush villages today- there are
new PCVs getting sworn in soon and we visited their future homes to make
sure the concessions were in decent shape and told the villagers that
they'd have another guest soon. One of the new volunteers is black so
when we went to her future village we all (Ann, Eric, Elliot, Debbie,
our driver Musa and I) sat in the shade with the village leaders and tried
to explain that not everyone in America is white, but that there are many
different kinds of people and we're all American and all equal. It was
hard for them to understand. Finally Musa told one guy that if he went
to America, he could walk around and no one would know he wasn't American
because there are people who look just like him there. He was astonished--
"Like ME??" Yes, yes, like you! Then he got really excited and
wanted to know how he could go to America, what he had to do. White skin
is almost revered here; it symbolizes America and wealth and the Peace
Corps.
I also saw 'President' Bari yesterday. I don't know much about the politics of Niger, but I guess he's sort of a dictator who's trying to convince people that he's leading a democracy... I'm not sure. Everyone in Torodi wore their best clothes and they all crowded around the military vehicles and chanted his name. There was a makeshift stage set up with a low quality microphone on it, and there were so many kids climbing the trees to see better that some of the trees were starting to bend over and crack. I wish now that I had taken my camera, but I wasn't feeling well so I went home and laid down after just a few minutes in that crowd.
**Update: a few months after my return, Bari was assassinated in the airport that I flew in and out of. Rumor says that his own men turned on him and pumped him full of bullets at close range, but the 'official' word is that Bari died in an 'unfortunate accident'.**
An African Mahogany
The Peace Corps hostel in Torodi
Another great part of my trip- we climbed this mesa
to watch the sun set. Debbie, a Torodi volunteer, is in the foreground.
The reward for the climb... a breathtaking view. That white speck is our
truck- that's where I was standing when I took the first picture.
Eric, me and another volunteer's dog
And the big finale...