Journeying through a desert paragraph
Answers
We’ve made the trip between Maradi and Niamey, Niger over the last 15 years countless times. Literally. But I don’t believe I’ve ever dedicated a blog post specifically to the trip. So here goes.
Niamey, the capital of Niger, is located in the south-western part of the country. The majority of the population also lies on the southern border, known as the Sahel Region. Not many people live up in the north, because that’s the Sahara Desert. So this journey takes us about halfway through the country, from West to East, along the Southern border.
Niger Map
We once completed the 388 mile road trip in 6 hours 45 minutes. That was years ago. And I know that’s not going to win the Indy, but when compared to our longest time…. What was our longest time you ask? Well that’s up for debate. Do you count the trip with the 6 flat tires? Or the one where the front tire actually flew off the vehicle? Or what about the time the whole thing seized up and we had to leave our vehicle on the road and take public transport the rest of the way home? Or how about when the brakes went out and we had to completely turn around and go home to get them fixed and leave again the next day? I could go on. But I won’t.
This particular journey was just a couple of weeks ago. We went to Maradi to celebrate the New Year. Tanika was home visiting and hadn’t been in Maradi in a few years. Since she spent nearly 9 years of her life there, it was time for a visit. But I digress. This is about the actual road trip. Besides Neal and myself and Tanika in the vehicle, Tobi was of course with us, as well as Sukala and his new wife Rakkiya. So the 4 of them were pretty cozy in the back seat. But the fun made up for the squishiness. I think.
The road is always in various stages of repair and since we’ve lived here has never been completely good. By that I mean there has always been a significant section of road that is in bad shape. And I mean really bad shape. Right now it’s the portion between Guidan Roumdji and Birnin’ Konni, closer to Maradi. I can’t really say the actual distance, but it takes about 3 hours to get through it. It shouldn’t take that long. Fortunately, it is being worked on. I’m trying not to notice the part of the road that is starting to deteriorate which will soon become the next really bad section.
Most of the rest of this post will be photos, most taken on our return trip to Niamey from Maradi. But a few pics are actually from the trip to Maradi from Niamey. Like this one. This is the Niamey gate as we are leaving the city. The sun is coming up. We are driving toward the sunrise. Pretty, but makes for a couple of squinty hours, even with sunglasses.
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