NigerMap
May Many people confuse Niger with Nigeria. The two countries share a border, but otherwise have little in common. Nigeria is English-speaking and exceedingly wealthy. Niger is French-speaking and incredibly poor. The country’s coat-of-arms looks like a dumb clown face. This face haunts everyone who deals with Niger’s governmental institutions. ![]() Two trash cans made from the feet of a dead elephant stand in front of the museum at the zoo. ![]() Even though the country is one of the poorest in the world, the African custom of wrapping every purchase in a plastic bag is positively flourishing here. Even a pack of gum will be handed to you in a plastic bag. This is a sort of African way of demonstrating a high standard of living, of proving that „we’re just as good as the West.“ The bag, of course, is tossed out into the street immediately afterward. This is why a typical landscape inevitably includes a tree covered in plastic bags. ![]() And if not a tree, then everything else is covered in plastic bags. ![]() Homes are quite modest, made out of clay and straw. ![]() The soil is red. There are few trees. ![]() The little round structures on struts are granaries. ![]() Those who can afford it use clay blocks for their fences and walls. ![]() A prosperous village. ![]() All the trees are crooked, so the poles made out of them are also crooked. On the plus side, they seem to be sturdy. ![]() Nigeriens are incredible friendly. In neighboring Benin, everyone within a hundred-meter radius covers their face at the mere sight of a camera, whereas in Niger everyone simultaneously raises their hand in greeting. ![]() Women. ![]() Mangos for sale. ![]() The country is very beautiful and unlike any other. ![]() It’s too bad all they got was desert. ![]() Then again, new deposits of uranium and oil were discovered here recently, so maybe things will pick up soon. ![]() Cars over there. ![]() The cow resembles a hippo. ![]() A truck. ![]() The trucks here are so ancient and decrepit that they often literally fall apart on the road. That chunk of dirt with a branch in the foreground is actually an emergency warning triangle set out by the truck’s driver. ![]() The tires are quite remarkable. You won’t find ones like these in another country even at a trash dump. ![]() Islam is slowly taking over Niger. ![]() Everyone brings a little plastic teapot with them to the bathroom—to wash their private parts afterwards. ![]() A license plate. ![]() Annual vehicle inspection stickers turn into a honeycomb over time. ![]() NiameyMapAll the fences and gates are lit with fluorescent lamps. One is pointed into the yard, the other out into the street. ![]() This isn’t a post box—it’s a switchboard enclosure. ![]() This is the post box. ![]() But it’s probably better to mail your letters directly from the post office. ![]() Caution, children. ![]() Electrical boxes are protected with additional bars on the outside. ![]() A traffic light. ![]() A policeman directs traffic. ![]() The capital. ![]() Across the street from the National Assembly. ![]() Street signs. ![]() A curious caption under the yield sign. Instead of „Yield,“ it says, „You don’t have priority.“ ![]() Refrigerators for sale. ![]() Electrical work in progress. ![]() A vendor of various potions and folk remedies. ![]() Tree saplings with protection from goats. ![]() The capital’s trash cans. ![]() A literal illustration of the fight against tobacco. ![]() Rules of conduct at the zoo. ![]() A Nigerien cow. ![]() Who’s my little snuggle wabbit? ![]() Some guy just bought a mattress. ![]() A lady with a bowl on her head. ![]() A girl with a bowl in her hands. ![]() Camels haul sections of a typical Nigerien fence along the highway. ![]() A driving school. ![]() The municipal landfill. ![]() A French kilometer marker post. We drive onwards. ![]() |
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may 2012
Niger
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