Zinder Travel Guide

 Bonobo2005 Says:  But the Grand Marché is especially charming because of the large numbers of local craftspeople that come to trade their decorated metal boxes, carved calabash bowls, clay jars, tanned leather works, woven baskets and whatsoever. You see huge piles of almost garbage that... 

 Bonobo2005 Says:  Thursday is the big market day, one of the largest in Niger and a must see because of its interesting mix of people and products.You will find millet, (imported) rice and a reasonable selection of other durable farm products, and some oranges, but the main business in Zinder... 

 Bonobo2005 Says:  You can visit the residence of the explorer Heinrich Barth who stayed in Zinder on his famous journey between Lake Chad and Timbuktu. The German Heinrich Barth, one of the most successful Sahara explorers ever, spent more than 5 years in the Sahara regions, during 1850-1855.... 

 Bonobo2005 Says:  The second style of decoration you will see are the facades with embossed designs. This is the more traditional method, that you don’t see anymore on more recently build houses. While the cellular design had been in hands of women, this relief design had once been the art of... 

 Bonobo2005 Says:  You can admire quite a lot of old and new houses in the Birni Quarter that are nicely decorated in typical Hausa style. Many of the street facades of the rectangular shaped mud brick houses are decorated. You see two styles. The more “recent” is the cellular design. The wall... 

 Bonobo2005 Says:  I found the residents of the Birni Quarter sincerely kind, polite and easily approachable much more so than those in comparable areas of tourist town Agadez.I expected large numbers of children approaching me for “cadeau, cadeau” and yes, the countless children were asking a... 

 Bonobo2005 Says:  Mustafa and I strolled around the fascinating Birni Quarter, a maze of narrow, sandy streets and mud brick houses, many of them decorated according to Hausa tradition.No noisy cars here, but donkey carts and camel drivers that slow down the pace of life and contribute to the... 

 Bonobo2005 Says:  While he refused me inside the Grand Mosque, he allowed me to take a quick look around the much older and smaller Mosque in front of it, that is used during the rest of the week. This fine mud brick Mosque dates from mid 19th century and has a fine white washed interior.... 

 Bonobo2005 Says:  After the tour around the Palace, the Prince was now visibly fed up with me and refused me to show the new Grand Mosque at the opposite of the street, although we agreed upon it. He told me I did not have any permission to climb the tall minaret as the caretaker was not... 

 Bonobo2005 Says:  The entrance is marked by an enormous heavy wooden door, which is the latest victory of the (former) Sultan. Some decennia ago, the door belonged to a residency of a Chief from a nearby village who apparently rebelled against the Sultans supremacy. To show him “who had the... 

 Bonobo2005 Says:  We took a moto taxi and drove across the sandy streets to the Sultan’s residence. It was crowded on the square in front of the Palace, opposite the Grand Mosque. Men in long clownish coloured dresses guarded the reddish clay structure build in 1852. The two storey building... 

 Bonobo2005 Says:  We descended again to end the tour at the present day living quarters of the Sultan. This area looked really well. Unfortunately the Sultan was just receiving important guests (yes, even more important than me…), so that it was not able to meet him personally. “Probably I... 

 Bonobo2005 Says:  We climbed on the roof which offered superb views especially over the old town. A conglomeration of mostly square red mud brick structures, here and there a tree. To the north good views on the main courtyard, and over the minarets of the Grand Mosque that tower high above... 

 Bonobo2005 Says:  Just north of Malanville flows the impressively huge brown coloured Niger River, that forms the border between the three countries of Niger, Benin and Nigeria.I arrived at the border settlement of Malanville by shared taxi, which took 4 hours from Parakou (cost about EUR 5).... 

 Bonobo2005 Says:  A low hill covered with huge boulders and 2 structures arises from the centre of Zinder. While I wandered around there, I almost lost my camera!! During the 6 days I spent in Zinder, I was the only tourist. Which meant that I was Mustafa’s only potential source of income... 

 Bonobo2005 Says:  Although not as important as more north towards the Sahara, camels are abundant and a popular way of transporting goods.Traders and farmers often come from far to bring their trade to the important market in Zinder. Donkeys and cows, the much cheaper alternatives for camels...