Break-in

Lauren agreed to give us all a tour of the city in his car, and I bought him some gasoline. At almost $2.00/liter it was the least I could do. The scale of the city is nothing like I expected, exactly as in Agadez. There are large buildings, they are spread far apart, and I never felt any sense of urbanity at all. The Kennedy bridge (photography not allowed!) is…just a bridge. The railings were lined almost entirely with drying laundry. I had always imagined my first view of the River Niger would be more momentous.

The visa was unexpectedly ready exactly when promised at the embassy, Lauren got us to the gare on time, there was place left on the minibus for Guetto and I, we wished Lauren success with his house and his family and his cash flow, and just like that we were gone. There were still no giraffes visible in the reserve. I came back to my hotel room three hours later to find the locks forcefully removed with obvious damage to the steel door and everything wide open. The hotel staff was in a flurry. The police chief arrived.

I had not returned the night before, and the hotel staff didn’t know if I was in the room or not: it was they who had forced the lock. I never imagined I had walked off with the only key, I was insensitive to the idea that my unexpected delay in Niamey might concern the hotel, and I certainly never imagined that my disappearance would be reported all the way up to the governor. The chief was there, I believe, to make sure I paid for the door. Nothing was stolen, nothing was lost, and the repairs cost me 3000 CFA ($6.00) as far as I can tell at this writing. I’m still apologizing to absolutely everyone for the “derangement”.

written by  roel krabbendam on February 18, 2007 from Dosso, Niger
from the travel blog: Harmattan
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