Barka da Sallah

We took our friend Toks to Gurara Falls in Niger State to celebrate the end of Ramadan (there’s two days public holiday – today and tomorrow). Last time we went the place was empty. This time the place was crowded with locals taking time off. It’s quite a tricky place to find – this is the only signpost. Anyone doing their job in promoting tourism would have signposts leading up to the place all the way back in Abuja. The road to the falls from this signpost is atrocious, and all that is there when you get there is self-organised. Gurara Falls could be so beautiful and attract thousands more people each year (and revenue for the State, and jobs), if only there was an attempt at being more serious about tourism.

It was lovely to see the youngsters decked out in their best gear – a lot of young guys doing their best to yankee-fy themselves with 50cent headbands and Tupac-style sticking plasters all over their face (no one sucked on dummys however). Younger boys threw firecrackers at each other which sounded as loud as gunshots. As it is near the end of the raining season, the falls themselves were thunderous.