Getting Along in Niamey

We eat in Niamey! But what, you ask? Here is a picture of us hanging zith our local millet cake guy. Millet cakes are fried carbohydrate deliciousness that can be dipped in a red spicey powder for a little zing! Two hundred CFA (just under a dollar) buys several.

Our house is only a few blocks from 'Nigelec Central,' the main power generator in Niamey. A constant waft of dark gray smokes out of the stack. Sometimes the low frequency hum speeds up and more and darker smoke boils forth. When our neighborhood is quiet the plant can be heard in our house.

Holy Smokes!!! Is that a camel? Sure it is. Rumor suggests there may be camel races late this year...

'Nigelec Central' serves as a landmark for taxi drivers taking us home. With a subtle wave of the hand from the roadside, a 'taximan' will bend his ear to hear your destination; if it is on the way his other passengers are traveling, he will most often give a simple nod to get in. The price is understood to be 200 CFA, unless the distance is far, wherein the price doubles.