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Hadejia-Nguru Trip
25 - 28 Feb 2005
"Very good four wheel drives!" says the guy from the leasing company, cashing in a large amount of money at Kano airport. Everybody is still a
bit sleepy from the early morning flight and we distribute ourselves into three vehicles: Two
4wheel drives and a bus. Even the aircons work. After some hide-and-seek in Kano's suburbs, the drivers finally find their way to
the Hadejia and Nguru wetlands. The countrysite becomes more and more rural
and our minds escape from the hustle and bustle of the city.
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After a short stretch of dirt road, we arrive at the Dagona Conservation Centre after a brief stop at the former headquarters of the Hadejia-Nguru
Wetlands Conservation Project in Nguru.
The museum at the Headquarters had accumulated large amounts of dust, but the rooms of the
camp where we stayed turn out to be much better than expected. The daylight
is already setting, when we arrive at the waterfowl sanctuary. Some of us get
more excited than others at the large assemblage of birds that greet us at
the oxbow lake: Sacred and Wood Ibises, Grey, Black-headed and Night Herons, large numbers of Pintail and Garganey, impressive numbers of waders
including over 100 Spotted Redshanks, Pallid and Marsh Harriers, several Abyssinian Rollers and Hoopoes and flocks of Red-cheeked Cordon-bleus and
Senegal Firefinches make up the spectacle. Many of the birds are migrants and very soon in March, millions will leave for their nesting areas all
over Europe.
Next morning some of us explore the nearby Dagona village, others go again
for bird watching.
Late in the morning we set off for Jajimaji and browse through the local market with colourful
grassmats, which are handwoven from palm leaves in underground caverns, because of the dry and intensive heat.
And now a sand track goes off towards the north, the Nigerian Sahel zone. The landscape becomes more and more arid, shrubs and trees more
scarce. After an hour's drive the first sand dunes appear in the glaring sun
light. And then - beyond a long stretch of golden orange dunes - the first
oasis: Kaska, thousands of Doum palms and some hidden mud houses. I think I am out of Nigeria: Men are weaving mats and the Kanuri women sit in the
shade and talk.
And on it goes with changing guides and varying directions. The driving in
the sun and the bumpy track makes us tired. One of the 4wheel drives turns
out to be a 2wheeler with an unexperienced, but stubborn driver. It gets stuck in the loose sand all the time. And now it pays that our wise leader
Phil overloaded the Toyota pickup with ten park rangers. The other vehicle
starts overheating and no handbook nor tools nor water is found. Our adrenalin level is rising. And we switch on the heater to cool down the
radiator.
It is rather late in the afternoon when we finally reach Tolotoluwa, the border village to Niger. We stumble out of the cars and visit the
market. And it is again Phil, who finds ice cold Coke and Fanta. We are stunned.
Wonderful decorated Kanuri women show their filed and red tinted Bethel nut
teeth. We are speechless.
When we hit the main road again at Gashua it is pitch dark. One car is lost, the other two look for a cool drink, for a beer in moslem land. And
Phil finds it. In pitch darkness they serve us fresh Star beer behind a fallen house in a back yard.
Next morning we enter unstable wooden boats near Nguru.. Each one is rowed
carefully by experienced fishermen. Beautiful waterlilies spread over the vast lake. The water is clear so that sometimes fish
can be seen far below. They catch a big variety in these waters: Bargi,
Tilapia, Catfish and Lungfish. Here we do not see a large amount of birds, but the serenity and calmness is overwhelming. There are several
Cormorants fishing, water walking Jacanas or Jesus birds as they are otherwise known, a few ducks and a single Osprey.
Sunday evening we reach the Prince Hotel in Kano and relax in luxury and then on Monday morning it is back once again to the humdrum of Lagos.
Guenther Kleinoeder (Germany)
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Lagos Branch
