Boukary Konaté [1], a member of the Global Voices community in Mali, recently toured rural schools on a traditional Malian boat as part of a digital literacy project [2]. This boat trip was an opportunity to explore his own country and to illustrate the many aspects of the 2,600 miles-long Niger river.
The Niger [3] is the third-longest river in Africa, exceeded only by the Nile and the Congo River. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in southeastern Guinea. It runs in a crescent through Mali, Niger and then through Nigeria, discharging through the Niger Delta into the Atlantic.
Here are a few snapshots of the Niger taken by Boukary Konaté and his team, reproduced with permission. More pictures can be found on the Segou Connection photo gallery [4] hosted on Briconcella's Flickr account.
[5]- A view of the Niger river from the embankment of Sekoro, Mali
[6]- A traditional Malian boat on the river Niger, en route to the market
[7]- Ouro Mody, a village on the Niger bank: traditional Fula architecture
[8]- The mosque of Djafarabe, in Fula territory
[9]- Women fetch water from the river to water rice paddies
[10]- A fisherman's son tends to play with the tool of the trade
[11]- Life aboard the UNESCO boat
[12]- A crew member, in traditional head dress
[13]- A Pirogue (dugout) sailing off as dusk descends on the Niger