Niger River Map

Niger River Map
Savalou Benin West Africa
Friday, September 22, 2006

My world is big and small; I do not see the sunlight unless I open my eyes. The days are focused on transportation, trips, travel, how to go from here to there. I need to stand back and look at my world to understand it, reacting to the world is not looking, to travel from place to place is easy, to stop myself and observe, to think, to take the time is the difficulty in travel. I have been in West Africa two times, I look at the maps of the countries continually, however, I make broad assumptions, I do not think simple enough and clear. The boundaries and gossip of countries interferes with my view.



Map of Niger River in Yellow

I have always thought the Niger River stopped in Niger; however, I am reading nonchalantly about Mali Visa, and Ghana Visa, trying to find the backpacker routes in West Africa. I read, the Niger in Mali… I think, hmm, that is funny route, which would take a big right turn.

STARTS IN GUINEA GOES TO NIGERIA

From Guinea, Mali, Niger, Benin, and Nigeria to the Gulf of Guinea. There are two deltas; an inland one in Mali, a delta is a huge area where it swamps itself out into fingers, then again to enter the ocean in Nigeria. Deltas as I understand accumulated silt and good land for farming is deposited, plus of course an abundance of water.

RIVER TRAVEL

This must have been one adventure of a lifetime to travel by boat from Guinea to Niger; I wonder who had done it? A plastic canoe and life can be eaten by a Hippo. Not the same as the Amazon, not as tame, the Niger has too many mysteries and unpredictable people, but still the same, it is becoming safer yearly.

NIGER EXPLORERS
- The expedition of Scottish explorer Mungo Park from 1795 to 1798 proved the Niger flowed eastward, but whether it emptied into the Nile, the Congo, an inland lake, or the Gulf of Guinea was still unknown. The Niger mystery was finally solved through expeditions headed by Scottish explorer Hugh Clapperton from 1823 to 1825 and by British explorer Richard Lemon Lander in 1830. French explorers, most importantly René-Auguste Caillié, also visited parts of the upper and middle Niger during the 19th century. - (2)

Niger River Map

Africa is a Long Way Guide Away

Africa is a Long Way Guide Away

I am thinking and observing, I really need the latest version of a guidebook to access and not this six year old Lonely Planet, I have a copy of the Lonely Planet Africa, however it seem just about worthless, I do not even have a hotel in Abdijan, Ivory coast listed, I have no essential hotel to sleep in, what good is a guide with no hotels.

I found only one hotel listed for the whole country in the Lonely Planet Africa for the country of Ivory Coast. This almost deems the book worthless as a guide, the History and Culture is not going to keep me safe, however a taxi to a safe hotel will keep me safe, where I can learn the culture and the History. I suspect that 99 percent of the books are never used for actual travel, thus they are really servicing their readers better.

If I could read French, I could buy a French… I can read French, I will maybe try to buy a French guide.

However, anyway you do it, a paper guide is a little difficult to carry, I would need 12-15 guides and about 10 kilos of weight in books to carry in Africa to travel West Africa. The internet to me it the solution as I could then pick and choose pages to print.

I have the history and culture notes in my encyclopedia Encarta on my computer. I need Hotels and Maps of cities to traverse West Africa. I do recommend a person buy a guidebook, it is silly and dangerous not to have a guidebook.

However, the path is obscure, many travelers I am sure wish to exaggerate the adventure about explaining the problem in an over zealous way. ATM and Bank Machines are everywhere in Abdijan Ivory Coast, I also seen many Mercedes Benz and a very large grocery store with a fresh food or deli area.

Africa is a Long Way Guide Away

BOLIVIA - DOWN THE AMAZON RIVER

There are lots of rivers in the Amazon basin, but many start from the mountains of Bolivia and lead all the way to the ocean in Brazil.

This is the start of the Amazon, and really the Amazon River starts in thousands of locations at the same time as a small trickle of water leave the sponge of earth called a mountain and lets go of the water that become a trickle, than a ripple of water, a small current, then converges to a big tube of water called a stream or river.

Well, down in Bolivia are some big starts, I am wondering and trying to find a good or maybe what the farthest point I can go up river and start on the Amazon. Maybe I can talk Peter who is in Argentina to join me, we could work our say from Bolivia to Brazil to Peru to Iquitos, Peru then stop. I have no good maps of the whole river, so someone send me links to river maps please. I know there are so-called adventure books about this trip, but who know what the mean, hyperbole... is rampant.