Midik is by far my favorite riding trail, but it needs a good two hours before you get there, if you want to get back before it’s dark. Of course, darkness doesn’t pose a geographical problem when both horses and riders know the landscape like the back of their hand, but I wouldn’t recommend speeding without daylight as you never know what sudden changes have occurred at the track… Although these pictures are taken at the start of the rainy season, we are currently celebrating the fact that this past weekend, Anette and I made it back to Midik with our little Isolde running with us all the way…
The easiest way to get there is to first go through Kanya or Kasheni and then head straight forward.
Stop any time to enjoy the beautiful scenery along the way!
Once you’ve passed the village of Mandara, my favorite valley on earth begins!
Words cannot express how content I feel when I reach this valley! I could spend hours and even days just galloping across this countryside!
Unfortunately for us, Midik is normally where our adventure ends, because when you see the sun going down as on the picture above, it is well time to turn around and head back home…
Not that the ride home is anything you’d want to miss, because the lighting in your back is superb and the horses have an extra gear especially saved for this!
Arwen’s view 
Sunset on its way, somewhere between Midik and Zinder…
And there we are: home again!
For other Zinder bush trails, see:
9 users commented in " The Midik trail "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackWonderful pictures, like a daydream. Away from the city life, my soul wanders, into a foreign landscape with curiosity! Thanks. Best wishes!
Wow love these photos - hmm just imagined me gallopping there with you guys and little Isolda
Amazing landscape…
So magical!!
I’m guessing that your horses can always go barefoot out on those trails, too. They look to not be rocky at all.
My horse is barefoot, and I want to keep her that way, but I have to keep my eyes out of trails that aren’t too rocky, which can be tough out here in the mountains.
Now if I can just psyche myself into being brave anough for cantering and galloping I can join you out on those gorgeous trails with you one day
Also, what are those plants growing all in a row? Have they been planted there by farmers or are they just natural vegetation?
~Lisa
New Mexico, USA
@Jarl: Welcome! So glad you left a footprint! Are you from Sweden?
@Szavanna: You’re welcome to join us! It’s such a peaceful place - and the trail posts does actually does it justice!
@Lisa: Yes, our horses are barefoot. The trails are great for better part, except for rainy season when you cannot tell by the looks of things if the ground is soft from a rain or washed hard. The cantering is amazing as the landscape just goes on for ever. I actually learned to cantor and gallop way before I learned to trot, lol!
The plants growing in rows are either peanuts or beans (I can’t tell from the distance). Naturally revegetation is more disorganized, though in a charming sort of way.
who is arwen? awesome blog. i’m loving it
@Kari: Welcome! Not every day I meet another TCK! Arwen is my Barb mare. A fabulous ride and amazing creature!
and does she have an aragorn?
Aragorn was the intended name for my first horse (and Arwen would have been his female), but after my seventh riding season, I was tired of colts and stallions and decided to purchase a mare instead. So Arwen became my first horse
If finances will allow it, she may have her own stallion in the future and he will of course be named Aragorn, but for now, we are more than content with the girls we have and the size of our concession does not fit a male on top of things…
Esther said: “Once you’ve passed the village of Mandara, my favorite valley on earth begins!”
I can empathize thoroughly with you in this one. Specially when its gets to the fifth picture, that of the sandy track rolling down that hollow and then up the hill and beyond.
I assume it is linked to fond memories of drives you might have enjoyed in the safety of a Land Rover filled with the reassuring presence of both your parents in the front seats.
And you, a kid enjoying the thrill of your stomach sinking as the car skids softly down the sandy track among the long shadows of a dawn away from home or back home at dusk.
Am I wrong?
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