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The Holy North: Yartsamiya, Katsina, Daura April 30th - May 3rd, 2004 "It looks like they carry all the wood out of their indigeneous forest at
It is like entering another world. No electricity and no roaring generators, no hectic traffic but peaceful palaver and resting through the day. Just the many torn plastic bags stuck in the spiky branches of the Camelthorn bushes remind us of our modern developments. Down to the rocky valley with the natural spring, now a dirty, black and overfished waterhole. The sunlight is so bright in the wilderness and the heat of the day is heavily resting on our bodies.
Nearly 100 children follow our trek, most of them had not seen white skin in their whole life. Nicolas with his 7 years and blond hair is obviously the attraction. An older boy even carries him over the steeply sloped, round bolders down the valley. "They are my friends now." laughs Nicolas and his father, short breathed, dreamsabout being carried away. JoAnna and Uschi get carried away - riding Okadas back to the cars. The hotels were the best ones you can find here: The beautiful, professionally managed Prince Hotel in Kano with its excellent Calypso restaurant and the government run, adventurous chalets of the Liyafa Palace Hotel in Katsina with its well fed rat climbing down the wall near our breakfast table.
Evening hours at the Niger border: The buzzling, colourful Jibiya market with many different tribes gathering to trade foodstuff of all kinds, trudging cattle, nervous sheep, pushing donkeys. Andreas with his large size is the attraction this time. Again, plenty of torn kids, dirty and pitiful, follow our trek through the crowds. Katsina is good for its sightseeing, although everything seems to be
Restoration of the run-down citywalls of Kano is being subsidized by the German government. Some mud bricks are baking in the sun, propably intended for the wall, most likely ending up restoring private residences. Kano Market: young, bare-bodied men shovel awful smelling mud out of the ditches onto the road until the next rain is going to wash it in again; laughing children wade between floating plastic bags in black oily water. Robert trades for a few ancient Maria Theresa silver coins, Nicolas is proud about his newly acquired bow and arrows, Uschi is into leatherware, JoAnna tries to avoid the smell of flies surrounded meat and towering cow`s legs. And busy traders pursue
Gunther to the cars and finally hand over the necklace for a third of the original price: "You are my first
customer!" In Daura things are different. We queue up waiting for an audience with theEmir, resting in golden, little torn Renaissance chairs in the wide openarea of the reception hall. The Emir is at home in his colourful, well-preserved Hausa palace, waiting for the Vice President to give his condolence: The Emir's only son was recently killed in an accident.
We move on, and go to drink the holy water of the nearby 900 years old Kusugu well, where Prince Bayajidda had beheaded the evil snake Sarki. Bayajidda was smart enough to refuse half of the town as a present and rather married Queen Daurama thus getting the whole city. The water is nice and refreshing and is believed to cure many ailments - next day I have a running stomach. A week later dozens of Christians are killed in Kano during raging religious street riots as a retaliation for the slaughtering of several hundred Muslims in Plateau State`s city of Yelwa.
More photos? Click here.
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Lagos Branch
