ADVENTURES IN NIAMEY (DAY 1)

So, here am I. At Casablanca Airport, waiting for my correspondance to Niamey, drinking mint tea and watching the Clasico Barça - Real Madrid.

It all started the sunday before last when I got that phonecall from Niamey : "We're happy to invite you to come here and give workshops to 12 West African Dj's". I laughed at first. And I'm pretty sure that, out of 12, at least 8 are technically better than I am. But anyway, I never refused such an experience. I love sharing my knowledge. I love meeting new faces. I love discovering music I don't know. And most of all, I love West Africa. Here is an offer I couldn't refuse !

After all the hustle related to travelling (Visa, Vaccines, etc), I'm now hitting the road leading to one of the hottest places in Africa, at the crossroads of the Sahara Desert and the entrance to Central Africa. I was told the temperatures are above the 50° Celsius. Which is verified. 47 degrees yesterday and in the shadow. The body needs liquid. May it be beer or water. The local beer is quite good. There are 2 brands that I tried. Niger Beer and Flag (an old friend of mine from my days in Burkina Faso).

What never fail to amaze me in these countries in the colour of the soil. A plain beautiful "ocre" colour. The streets are very crowded. Niamey has 1.2 million inhabitants. More than 90% of them are muslim, the rest shares between animists and christians.

I met one of the dj's yesterday, called Bruno Coulibaly and hailing from Ouagadougou, capital of Burkina Faso. Seems like a nice guy. This morning, we were on national television, promoting the Festival accompagnied by Nicole, our hostess. The rest of the guys should be arriving today. Coming from all over the region : Benin, Nigeria, Senegal, Togo and Mali. the aim of my presence here is to be jury for a DMC style competition in between those cats.

We sleep in a beautiful hotel called Les Roniers (named after the huge trees shown in the next picture).

My room is a bungalow, not far from the River Niger; the pool is surrounded by magnificent trees and a beautiful garden.

Allow me to go and try it out.

More to come.

Peace.