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Published: February 25th 2008
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February 24, 2008 We wake up around 6:30, pack up the bedding we had brought in, and are ready to go around 7. We are the first ones up, so head outside into the cooler air. The temperature outside is wonderful. Lots of interesting sounds around the village, animals (chickens, roosters), a few vehicles, people. There is a smoky haze in the air, smoke from cooking fires and fires for heat. We find the temperature quite nice, but most people consider it to be cold (have seen many sweaters, big winter jackets on people in the morning). By 7:30, the group is up and we are off to camp for breakfast. Another big breakfast, omelets with onion, tea, juice and water. The omelet is good and then we are served chocolate loaf slices. I eat half of my chocolate loaf slice and ask if I can have the rest packed. Well, I don’t get my slices on my plate, I am given new slices to take with me for the day. They were wonderful, as we didn’t have lunch until 4pm, so I was able to snack all day.
Archaeologist On the way to the field, we stop at
Bellows
Here is the setup for the blacksmith. Fellow on left works the bellows, the one in the middle is the blacksmisth. one of the villages for Amadou to say hi to the local politician. The archaeologist stops and shows us some artifacts that he has found (very intriguing). We are told that the village is praying for our success as they are hoping that they will get electricity (if we can find a mine, means electricity will be brought into the area).
Blacksmith We visited a couple more trenches, then went to check out another artisanal area. Along the way, we come across an area that was used to forge iron in the past. We see the remanents of an oven used to heat the rock. It is interesting. At the artisanal site, there are very few people. However, two of them are working together. One is bellowing a fire, with two hand-held bellows, one for each hand. His process is rhythmic. The other fellow is heating a tool in the fire. As well, he adds coals to the fire when the first guy tells him to. When the tool is hot enough, he hammers it, ie. he is a blacksmith. It is neat to see the process. Then, we see a miner pop out of the ‘tunnel’ wearing a
flashlight strapped to his head.
Iron Working, a Man’s Job Amadou tells about the iron workers (of the past?). Apparently, iron working is a very religious process. Only the men would do the work. They would go away to do this work. Before they left, they would divorce their wives. The reason for this, if they did not, and their wife left them for another man during that time, they believed all the iron that they had made would be bad. So, to save themselves from such misfortunes, they would divorce their wives before leaving, then re-marry when they returned.
From here, we travel down to the far south end of the project, about an hour drive over sandy and laterite roads. There are no trenches here but a few possible showings. We stop to look at outcrops of interest. While in the area, we travel through the village of Bouppa and there is a market today. We travel through a few more villages and are close to the Burkina Faso border. I am able to bring out my laptop and we look at the data I have for this area. I was given the excel files but Amadou does not have this information in a map form, so I will need to get it printed for him.
We eventually return to camp for a late lunch at 4pm. Another excellent meal. The cook at this camp looks like a basketball player, he is tall and wears a nice sweat suit, and is very friendly. I feel guilty at camps as we are waited on hand and foot, here, the cook even puts the sugar into my tea and stirs it for me (he does this for everyone).
The trip back to Niamey We leave for Niamey and our air conditioning is not working again. So, we stop for our driver, who is also a mechanic, to take a look. It is a great opportunity to take more pictures of camels as there are 3 grazing on the trees near us. As well, 3 young boys stop to say hi and watch what we are doing. The process takes about 10 minutes and we are off again with no airconditioning and windows rolled down. This is fine on the highway, but once we hit the laterite detours, it is a very dusty trip!
The Ferry Crossing We arrive at the ferry terminal about 20 minutes before sunset. This time, we wait for the ferry as it is sitting on the other side and not loaded. This is a very intriguing experience. It is hot in the car, so we get brave and go out for a small walk. There is small market here and lots of small fish for sale (surprisingly it does not smell). We head down towards the water, and we are standing at the edge of the Niger. What a concept! We watch these barge/freighter like boats (look like oversized fishing boats) loaded and very low on the water. In fact, one has people bailing some water in the mid section. These boats often travel the Niger making stops along the way, sometimes originating in Benin. At one point, we are standing about 10 feet from the water with Amadou, and an older lady stops, says something to Amadou, then takes my hand and leads me to the water. Not sure what is happening so I go with her to the edge. It appears she is inviting me in. I stop and smile, and she continues into the water. When she exits, she tells Amadou that I have courage as I was not afraid to go with her - very cute!
The ferry eventually comes and boy, is it loaded! It docks and the captain goes to pray. Amadou joins him as the ferry will not go without the captain. Chris and I walk up to the truck and a little past. One young boy becomes a pest, wanting us to take his picture and then give him money. We climb into the truck to wait a little longer and he goes back and forth between Chris and my window asking for a gift.
Amadou comes back and we walk down to the ferry as it is much cooler outside than in the vehicle. It is dark and the three of us walk onto the ferry, followed by the young boy. There have been many mosquitos and I apply what is left of my bug repellant. The plastic bottle is so badly cracked and the lotion has leaked all over the Ziploc bag. We sit on the metal benches and then climb into the vehicle when we dock. Another safe trip across.
We arrive back at the house around 9:00pm, dusty and tired. I type a little bit about the trip, then headed to bed.
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