Niamey, Maradi, Zinder and the Termit massif in 12 days

In the morning, go to the national museum for a complete overview of Niger. Excellent ability to understand Nigerian culture and society: representations of different ethnic groups through traditional costumes, musical instruments, crafts.... This museum is at the same time a place of safeguarding, a craft workshop and a place of sale. Thus, you will meet jewellery craftsmen, shoemakers, weavers in full labour, you will see shops and high quality batiks. The commercial aspect is also a kind of heritage preservation, because it keeps Nigerian art alive, and you will see the younger generations rediscovering their culture. In this cultural site, several pavilions display major themes such as paleontology, a field that arouses curiosity, the exploitation of uranium, which is still in the news. In the afternoon, stroll through the small market, which is nothing small, between the displays of peppers, tomatoes, fruits and many other culinary surprises. Feel free to ask for the name of anything you don't know, without the guarantee of having the answer in French, experience the exoticism! Ali Baba's real cave, the large market offers a quantity and variety of remarkable items; there are modern and traditional clothes, sandals and shoes imitating "great brand", fabrics from all over the world, loincloths, basins... This labyrinth is full of surprises at every turn! And in the evening, the must is an aperitif on the terrace of the Grand Hotel for a sunset on the river and the city below.

Visit of the market to flowers at the edge of the river, meeting with the tanners (even if it releases a strong "fragrance", their work is interesting). Discovery of the craft village of Wadata: work place of all kinds of craftsmen of leather, fabric, furniture, potters, weavers and large boutique of presentation and sale of objects. The object or furniture of its choice can also be ordered.

Take your afternoon to take a walk in the rice fields upstream or downstream from Niamey where you can meet the families at the field or the harvest.

Go to the other end of the country, to the east, to see two aspects of the country completely different. By bus, the Niamey - Zinder link takes a day. On the road, crossing cities like Dosso, Birni N 'Konni and Tahoua, but the stopping time is short. When the Sahel meets the Sahara, Sahelian landscapes parade: fields of mil, more or less destitute according to the season (green from August to October), beautiful villages with granaries to the millet of regional bill in straw or ground, very beautiful mosques of banco style in the villages south of Tahoua, then the extent of the grazing area to Zinder. First night at the hotel in Zinder, in the evening, attend a concert of one of the zinderese music groups.

Stroll through the old birni, the cattle market (Thursdays). Good walks are possible around the city, to the forest of baobabs and mango trees Miria, to the desert of granite balls in the north of the city.

En route for Termit, via Gouré, night at Kellé with ostrich park. It's the beginning of nomadic life. Continuation on the Termit massif, which contains a large number of animals such as herds of biches, outards, a unique addax population in the world, damas gazelles, very rare, dormant gazelles, headlines, Saharan cheetahs, jackals, fennels, vultures... The Tubou are the inhabitants of this desert. They are nomadic camels, goats and sheep. The diversity of the environments offered to the traveler ranges from the rocky massif with pitons to the dunes where engravings and archeological sites have not yet delivered all their secrets. For the pleasure of travelers, the landscapes of Termit are the same as thousands of years ago. This site can be compared to the Ar and Ténéré reserve (classified World Heritage Site in 1990), with greater diversity of wildlife in the Termit massif. This is mainly due to the natural fortress of this area, ideal for a hike, hike or hail or camel.

Explore this desert area where monumental termite mounds grow. With a bit of luck you will come across the famous Dama gazelles.

Following your break in the Termit.

Following your break in the Termit.

Return to Zinder for the night.

Stopping at Konni for one night may be a great solution for reducing road fatigue.

A stroll through the neighbourhoods shows a mosaic of Nigerian-Nigerian peoples and cultures.

Arrival in Niamey. Return flight.