A SAFARI ADVENTURE

Thursday: Today we went hunting for big game. Well actually, we “hunted” giraffes; and the only weapons we used were our cameras. In the countryside just outside Niamey there is a natural preserve program for the endangered giraffes that dwell in Niger. There are no boundaries or fences around this preserve. It’s just a territory in which the government has declared the animals to be protected. This protection has enabled these beautiful animals to rebound in numbers from fewer than 65 to over 220!

We paid a guide to lead us off road into the arid landscape of the country. Our “GPS” was a bamboo pole used by the guide to point the direction he wanted us to head. He sat on the luggage rack on top of the SUV and tapped the windshield, pointing Jeremy Beebout our missionary – and today, our driver – in the direction of the giraffes. I’m glad he knew the way, for seeing these animals was a thrill of a lifetime! Weighing about 2 tons and standing as the tallest animal on the planet, they are a spectacle to behold! They move with grace and are constantly nibbling at the dried leaves of the sparsely scattered trees in the area. We saw two groups (should I call them “herds?”) of about a dozen each. Each group had several “babies” about four to six months old, so apparently the population is still growing.

One of the striking things about these animals is how effectively their “spots” function as camouflage. When the giraffes are next to brush or trees, they virtually disappear – all two tons of them!

As we went searching for the giraffes, we drove by many farms. Seeing how parched and sandy the land is now, I marvel at how difficult it must be to farm it - especially without any machinery. Apparently most spring seasons bring enough rain to grow millet and other grains. They build grass structures elevated on stilts to store the grain. Often they are surrounded by crude fences or other barriers to prevent the animals (giraffes?) from helping themselves.

The homes the farmers live in are the traditional Niger huts with thatched roofs. But most are a little more substantial than the ones we see in the city. The huts are circular, with thick stucco covered walls. Typically they are clustered into groups of 3 to as many as 10. They are “tribes,” usually connected by family ties. The land is granted to them by tribal chiefs. If these “villages” are any distance from a road, there is little chance they have electricity. Water is drawn from a community well. As we drove by them, children hearing the sound of our approaching vehicle would run out to greet us with friendly smiles and enthusiastic shouts of glee. I doubt if any of them have ever driven in any kind of motorized vehicle like the one they chase after today. And I am quite certain that they or anyone they know has never driven a tractor over the fields that gives them food, either.

One farmer who came up to us while we were watching the giraffes proudly showed us his farm tool. It resembled a long handled hoe that was designed to lightly cultivate the sandy earth and remove any dried growth on the surface. It was explained to us that they have been told that it would be better if they turned the soil over and folded the growth into the ground. Instead they insist on keeping their long-standing tradition by gathering the old growth into piles and burning it.

I can’t imagine scratching out an existence in these harsh conditions. There is no shade, no air conditioning, not even a fan. Today it is over 100 degrees. What do they do in "the hot season" of July and August? They are living as we do when we stay at a campsite with no “hook ups.” Only after we get sick of that kind of living, we can return to our comfortable homes with all their luxurious amenities. And we can go to the grocery store for our food, rather than depend on a sandy field to give us the only food we will ever have.

-Pastor Dave Corlett