Dishes of spit-roasted lamb have been served and the sound of electrical guitars echoed throughout the pink Saharan dunes in the direction of the Air Mountains.
“It’s like playing at home,” mentioned musician Oumara Moctar.
The desert, he mentioned, “… is where we were born, where we grew up, and reminds us of where we come from.”
One of the most important cultural occasions in the Sahel area, the Air Festival returned just lately, bringing the songs, dances and oral traditions of the nomadic Tuareg tradition to an viewers of hundreds – and a burst of hope for jihadist-scarred Niger.
The eagerly-awaited three-day celebration unfolded in Iferouane, an oasis sandwiched between desert and mountains 1,200km from the Nigerian capital Niamey.
Some 5,000 folks, many of them native VIPs and some foreigners, changed the desert’s traditional calm with a ballet of 4x4s whipping up plumes of mud.
After attending live shows and sweetness pageants, festival-goers spent lengthy hours reclining on mats the place, in between rounds of tea, dialogue ranged from the deserves of Toyota pick-up vehicles to barely-concealed regionalism.
“Tuareg culture, in a nutshell,” smiled younger Iferouane resident Mohamed Bouhamid.
A vacationer taking a selfie on the Chiriet dunes close to Iferouane. International guests are slowly making their means again to Niger.
If not for the pervasive presence of troops to offer safety, this scene might have taken place some 20 years in the past.
The competition, launched in 2001, final came about in 2020. In its prime, well-heeled European guests beat a path to Niger and neighbouring Mali, and males who are actually insurgent chiefs labored as vacationer guides.
An airline linked Paris on to Agadez in Niger and to Gao and Kidal in Mali. For a few years, the Paris-Dakar rally raced by the desert. Memories of this halcyon time persist right this moment, regardless of the 2 jihadist insurgencies that beset Niger, and its power poverty – it’s ranked the world’s poorest nation by the benchmark of the UN Human Development Index.
After six French residents have been killed simply outdoors Niamey in 2020, France – beforehand the primary supply of vacationers – declared Niger a “red zone” and really helpful journey there be averted.
For these wishing to go to the competition in Iferouane, the French authorities really helpful postponement.
Deputy mayor Hamadi Yahaya denounced “these embassies” that “have sparked hysteria” regardless of the battle being greater than 1,000km away from Iferouane.
Mayor El Gondj Ahmed, or “the Honorable” as he’s referred to as regionally, repeatedly mentioned “everything is secure here”.
In addition to the troops, dozens of Ishumars – a reputation given to former rebels – “have been deployed in the surrounding desert”, mentioned Rhissa Ag Boula, a insurgent chief who now serves as an adviser to Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum.
At close by Chiriet, the Ishumars’ vehicles bearing recognisable white flags remained at a discreet distance. They flanked a rowdy race between some 80 drivers dashing by the sand.
Rocco Rava, an Italian who manages a tour company referred to as Societe de Voyages Sahariens (SVS), had returned to the area for the primary time in 15 years.
He grew up in the regional capital Agadez the place he developed his tourism enterprise earlier than shifting to neighbouring Chad when the “turbulence” started in Niger.
Camel riders performing throughout the competition, a celebration of the tradition of the semi-nomadic Tuareg folks.
Tourism and machine weapons
“There is a strong demand,” he mentioned, explaining he had come to Iferouane to take a look at the chance of bringing vacationers again.
But the scenario is paradoxical, he mentioned: “If it’s really secure, then tourists ask us why we need to have a military escort.”
Niger requires all Westerners travelling to the desert to be accompanied by an armed escort, for which they need to pay.
“In what country in the world do you do tourism with a machine gun in front of you and another one behind you?” requested one other tourism skilled, who spoke on the situation of anonymity.
People should settle for that the “before” occasions are over, mentioned the president of Iferouane’s artisan collective, Kader Hamadede, who has been making jewelry for 3 a long time.
“The tourism we’ll have from now on will always involve the military, and I don’t know if tourists are interested in that.”
Many native folks have been downbeat about prospects for a greater life and a few noticed migration or working in the unlawful gold mines dotting the Sahara as their solely hope.
“There’s nothing more to do here,” mentioned 22-year-old Mohamed Bouamid, who hopes to make his fortune with a four-month stint in the gold enterprise. – AFP
