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Niger Travel Blogs

Background: Not until 1993, 33 years after independence from France, did Niger hold its first free and open elections. A 1995 peace accord ended a five-year Tuareg insurgency in the north. Coups in 1996 and 1999 were followed by the creation of a National Reconciliation Council that effected a transition to civilian rule by December 1999. Niger is one of the poorest countries in the world with minimal government services and insufficient funds to develop its resource base. The largely agrarian and subsistence-based economy is frequently disrupted by extended droughts common to the Sahel region of Africa.

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By tamaffa
March 1st 2006

In other news. . . Africa » Niger » Niamey

i got into Naropa University! I guess I haven't told many people. I found out walking downtown when dad called for the second time in one day,eager to find out and he opened my email for me so i'll be in Boulder next year! yay Carpenters, we'll have lots of hang out time! [View Full Entry]

By tamaffa
February 27th 2006

and the heat. . . Africa » Niger » Niamey

2-27-06 Now is the time when you hug the walls for the littlest bit of shadow. Even at noon when there are slivers of shadow, your flip-flopped toes are happy for the little bit of relief. Just walking to the internet café and talking to a friend for 15 minutes toasted my shoulders to a nice red. We cross the street to be out of the sun just a little bit. We give up talking not only because it’s hot but to profit in the shade which won’t hold more than one body in the middle of the day. I drink [View Full Entry]

By tamaffa
February 21st 2006

Village excursion part one Africa » Niger » Niamey

2-21-06 the problem with big adventures is that I’m so tired after them I don’t get around to writing about them for awhile, after I’ve recuperated a little and forgotten some more. We went to Yussef’s mom’s village, Konni Kayne, it should take ‘bout 15 minutes outside of Niamey. If all goes well that is. We left here surprisingly early considering how long it takes me to get up and out. We took a van to kwarra tegi and walked to "presque" the end of the city where the bush taxis take people out and beyond. We bought provisions and goodies [View Full Entry]

By tamaffa
February 17th 2006

dirty shower, new born babies, and ski magazines Africa » Niger » Niamey

2-17-06 it’s hard to feel clean in a shower that earlier today was streaming out rawhide colored niger dirt water. The pipes behind the CFCA are being changed and so our pipes were full of the sandy water until they turned off the water entirely when me and yussef came back from his mom’s house. We peaked our heads over the fence to see how the progress was going and a guy right near the wall, a supervisor type, asked if they were making two much noise as a round saw in the hole drowned out his words. We denied politely. [View Full Entry]

By tamaffa
February 16th 2006

delivery methods in niamey Africa » Niger » Niamey

i bought a new bed 30 centimeters of pure latex for 40,000 cfa which at first sounded like a great deal to me, but then reflecting back in dollars, that's 80 bucks, and there ain't no pillow top on this thing. . . but oddly enough it is riddled with sailing images, a couple of tall ships some compass roses and a married couple floating indescribably amongst it all, and all in hunter orange and aqua marine wow it came from katako market on the head of a guy who walked it too my place. i don't know how to describe [View Full Entry]

By tamaffa
February 15th 2006

Morroco is like scotland Africa » Niger » Niamey

as promised, here are my musings on morroco: Morocco is like Scotland. Foggy and green. Or maybe it’s like L.A. and smoggy. It has american looking freeway under/overpasses, California looking eucalyptus but comfortingly African with people walking along the sides of the big highway and people riding on overladen trucks and motorbikes. The signs are in Arabic and English. The airport was terribly signed and misinformed; they sent a bunch of people from out flight upstairs to “transit” what does that even mean in English? But we were supposed to pass through passport [View Full Entry]

By tamaffa
February 13th 2006

and then it hit me Africa » Niger » Niamey

throwing up and diarrhea at the same time. after 4 months here with hardly a rumble in the tummy and i get sick. but it wasn't that bad, 'cause that was yesterday and i'm at the internet cafe at night and the only ickiness i felt today was when i ate too much and probably too zealously cause i was so hungry. it was the sandwhich i ate at evasion or the brochettes and frites before that as the sun was setting and bob marley was playing, followed by some Malian music. Yussef was writing a text message to mom and [View Full Entry]

By tamaffa
February 7th 2006

money thoughts Africa » Niger » Niamey

2/7/06 Cataco four light bulbs 1,000 three tomatoes 50 pumice foot stone 25 metal scrubby 75 bag of henna 100 small pepper 25 ½ kilo bag of sugar 250 ½ bag of flour 75 paint brush 750 little sack of ginger 25 jar of peanut butter 600 pasta 300 6 nails 100 1/4 ground meat 300 water 10 taxi 400 onion 50 total 3,735 $7.47 2/5/06 the funny thing about money in a poor country is you can never use big bills. It sucks to have a 10,000 denomination bill, the equivalent of twenty dollars; no one can or wants to [View Full Entry]

By tamaffa
February 6th 2006

excerpt from a letter. . . Africa » Niger » Niamey

The-one-and-only-rachel-john will hopefully forgive me for publicly publishing a portion of her letter that i wrote today and also send me her address at school so i can send this part and more. . . ". . .I'm in Niger, the least developed country in the world as of last year, at a proper english style horse riding club. Puny horses, not the grand cowboy horses of the states. there's a bunch of Moms behind me waiting for their kids to finish their lesson. 8 kids, 6 white 2 black, the teacher is from benin or burkina according to his accent. [View Full Entry]

By tamaffa
January 31st 2006

the inevitability of adventure Africa » Niger » Niamey

i came for adventure and it is here for me everyday every "promenade" that i take. like the other day heading into the grand marche this guy with old bottles full of murky water who i accosted with questions. traditional medicines, he said, for black people, not for me because i'm white. but white people do buy them, rarely for ailments but mostly for testing in their labs to see that, oui vraiment they work. or the other day when i went to look at two houses and this kid on a tricked out bike with a viking flag on the [View Full Entry]

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