This past weekend saw the city celebrating Tabaski (also known as Eid al-Adha), which together with Ramadan is one of the two major highlights of the year.

Anette and I spent the morning taking care of (and catching up with) the animals of Ishtar’s Ark, before heading out in the afternoon to greet friends.

The white outfit I was wearing has a story and was a gift from our friends and neighbours Mr & Mrs D. After receiving a burnt copy of the pictures that Anette took of the family during the past Ramadan celebrations, Mr D wanted to give me a gift and asked me a number of times if there wasn’t anything I wanted. As his wife came from Agadez, the Tuareg region, I eventually said yes - there was actually something Nigerien that I had always wanted but never managed to get: a Tuareg outfit. Mr D was thrilled. A package arrived some ten days before the celebration and the gift was awesome!! Mrs D was very pleased with the end result and upon our arrival suggested that she slip into hers as well, so that we could take “uniform pictures”. I was honoured!

Later in the afternoon, we drove out (as opposed to riding out!) to the racetrack, where the Tuareg outfit got some awesome reviews and inspired everyone I met to speak Tamashek (a minority language in Niger). The man in pink, who was from Agadez, simply couldn’t stop smiling and said that it was impossible to not speak Tamashek at the sight of such a beautiful outfit. One of the things I love about Niger is how happy people are when you take on their culture.

The racing itself was a medium-sized event; which means there not only is enough action to enjoy, but enough space to really see what happens!

There were three races,

…of which we saw the last two.

Unfortunately the light was too weak for good action pictures (or I would have talked you through the races), but the sunset was beautiful!

As Anette were taking shots of horses and their caretakers, my friend Altiné suggested we take pose with some of the Sudanese horses, who belong to a fellow friend in Nigeria.

The Sudanese imports are both bigger and faster than the Nigerien barb, but have a hard time surviving in this arid part of the world. Despite their phyical strenght, they often die of “unexplainable reasons” here when they stay for a long period of time. Compared to the slim and adapted barb, the Sudanese import needs a lot of high-quality food to maintain its body structure, which is difficult to find (there is no green grass here expect for during rainy season) and are also vulnerable to the local form of equine piroplasmosis.

After the official races had ended, the inofficial ones began - and those are often the most interested!

We had a good time at the track, catching up with old friends and making new acquaintances while watching the jockeys fight for first position.

We ended the evening with a visit to Souade’s family, where her nieces were busy counting the coins they had received during the day. We stayed for nearly two hours (allowing me to use just about every word in my Hausa vocabulary!) before it was time to call it a night and head home.

All in all, a very pleasant day!