My last personal blog post left off just after the Christmas holiday, and before I went to Gaya to welcome the New Year with Brian and Sara, along with Sara’s brother who was visiting from America. My trip down to Gaya from Falmey is a solid six hours, but I broke it up over two days to visit my friend Michelle who was located almost exactly in-between. Michelle and I met up in the market town of Ouna, snacked on fried dough, watched the people go by and eventually made our way back up the road about three hours to Michelle’s village “high” up in the mesas. Just one night was enough to show me that although she was so out of the way, Michelle was placed with wonderful people and I felt confident that we would be able to visit each other somewhat regularly (maybe once every few months). From Michelle’s home I made my way to Gaya. Once the crew was assembled, Sara, her brother, Brian and I struck out on the town, visited Brian’s Nigerien Mom, ate oranges off trees with friends in a riverside garden, climbed the non-pedestrian path up Gaya’s largest mesa and generally enjoyed the mini vacation. At this point I had been in Falmey since early December and it felt good to get away and spend some time in Gaya. It also felt like coming full circle all over again. In July of 2010, my whole group stood bewildered that we had arrived in Niger one year previous, and over the Christmas and the New Year, I looked back again at the time I had spent with the same people, minus a few good souls who had already closed their service.
On January 1st, Sara, her brother and I got a “late” start out of Brian’s house to the bush taxi station. Our intention: travel from Gaya directly back to Falmey. Easier said than done! We arrived at the tesam around 9am and did not get on the road until 11am. The trip (usually six hours once on the road) took us 10 in constantly broken open-back truck! Thankfully, the Falmey-to-Gaya road is the scenic route!! Rocky mesas turn into the palm-tree lined riverbank, which turns to flat stretches of sand and gravel, dotted with small shrubbery and massive baobob trees bare in the winter. The next day we spent out on the Niger River, searching for elephants. We finally did see the beautiful creatures bathing in the shallows on the side of the river that belongs to the national preserve, Parc W. The trip had a true African safari-feel and we were lucky for the chance to do it!
My last personal blog post left off just after the Christmas holiday, and before I went to Gaya to welcome the New Year with Brian and Sara, along with Sara’s brother who was visiting from America. My trip down to Gaya from Falmey is a solid six hours, but I broke it up over two days to visit my friend Michelle who was located almost exactly in-between. Michelle and I met up in the market town of Ouna, snacked on fried dough, watched the people go by and eventually made our way back up the road about three hours to Michelle’s village “high” up in the mesas. Just one night was enough to show me that although she was so out of the way, Michelle was placed with wonderful people and I felt confident that we would be able to visit each other somewhat regularly (maybe once every few months). From Michelle’s home I made my way to Gaya. Once the crew was assembled, Sara, her brother, Brian and I struck out on the town, visited Brian’s Nigerien Mom, ate oranges off trees with friends in a riverside garden, climbed the non-pedestrian path up Gaya’s largest mesa and generally enjoyed the mini vacation. At this point I had been in Falmey since early December and it felt good to get away and spend some time in Gaya. It also felt like coming full circle all over again. In July of 2010, my whole group stood bewildered that we had arrived in Niger one year previous, and over the Christmas and the New Year, I looked back again at the time I had spent with the same people, minus a few good souls who had already closed their service. 
On January 1st, Sara, her brother and I got a “late” start out of Brian’s house to the bush taxi station. Our intention: travel from Gaya directly back to Falmey. Easier said than done! We arrived at the tesam around 9am and did not get on the road until 11am. The trip (usually six hours once on the road) took us 10 in constantly broken open-back truck! Thankfully, the Falmey-to-Gaya road is the scenic route!! Rocky mesas turn into the palm-tree lined riverbank, which turns to flat stretches of sand and gravel, dotted with small shrubbery and massive baobob trees bare in the winter. The next day we spent out on the Niger River, searching for elephants. We finally did see the beautiful creatures bathing in the shallows on the side of the river that belongs to the national preserve, Parc W. The trip had a true African safari-feel and we were lucky for the chance to do it! 
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