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Standing in front of the BAe146 before my first flight. |
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View of the terrain not far from Niamey. In this area, there is plenty of vegetation. One or two small villages can be seen with groups of huts constructed from woven vegetation (e.g. reeds) in the traditional Hausa style. |
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View inside the BAe146 during flight. Jim Haywood is sitting in the Aircraft Scientist's jump seat, behind the pilots. Note also the racks of instruments and real-time displays. |
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A wider view of the cabin and displays. |
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A genereal view of Niamey and the river as we come in to land. |
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Discussions after landing on what did and didn't work. |
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On the ground, air conditioning is provided by the generator on the left. |
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The first dust flight went to the North-East, where the terrain becomes more and more arid. |
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Even here, though, there is still some vegetation. |
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Flying at low level in the dust. |
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A river trip to see the hippos. |
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Traders from Nigeria on their way upstream through Niger to Mali. |
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The reception along the river bank is generally very friendly and uninhibited. |
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The presidential palace. |
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Hippos, seen from a respectful distance. These are seriously large animals and can be bad tempered if they feel threatened. More tourists are killed by hippos than by any other cause. |
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The hippos stare us down and we take our leave. |
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The river provides fertile ground for crops and also washing facilities. |
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The Grand Hotel, where we stayed. |
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Sunset, seen from the terrace of the hotel. Taken through my binoculars. |
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The sun sets into the dust haze. Taken through my binoculars, with full camera zoom. |
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