...continued
Nels Peterson,
a 25-year-old electrical engineering
student at Montana State University,
field captain for Jack Horner’s
work in Montana and an itinerant mechanic,
provided the brains and muscle behind
getting the armada back on its wheels.
However, not even Nels, despite guidance
from his mechanic father and a local
Land Rover specialist, could bring
the White turbo diesel Land Rover
back to life in time for the team’s
departure. The white truck, battered
after an accident at the end of the
2000 Expedition, had to be left up
on blocks in Niamey for the next delivery
of parts.
A short
in a brake light on a trailer during
the journey from Niamey to Agadez
required an on-the-road night time
fix-it job by Nels Peterson.
The diplomatic endeavor
was equally formidable - a new minister
of Higher Education was in power.
He had never heard about our four
previous expeditions, and knew nothing
about paleontology. Luckily for the
team, the advance crew included Didier
Dutheil - the archetype ambassador
for all diplomatic doings in Niger.
Didier has been Paul’s companion
for ten years in all adventures in
Africa. With an African father and
a French mother, Didier walks with
ease between both worlds. Niger became
independent from France in 1960, but
didn’t have democratic elections
until 1993. The government is a complex
interplay of native African culture
with a French-style administration
super imposed from colonial days.
On the Road
Every day counts - especially when
you have just two months to work.
Once the full team was assembled,
we had just three days in Niamey to
get ready for the trip to Agadez.
Not only did we need to clean, organize
and pack all the supplies left in
storage in the U.S. Ambassador’s
Residence in 2000, we needed to find
and hire a cargo truck to bring seven
of the nine tons of plaster, food
and equipment up to the field, make
sure the vehicles were ready for the
road, change all the tires on the
trailers, and fill the trucks with
gas.
By 5:30 a.m. on the third day we
were lined up and ready to go - but
the paperwork still hadn’t arrived.
Fueled by assurances from the Ministry
that the document was almost ready
- and with a slim chance to visit
a once-a-year nomadic festival in
the desert dangling in front of us
- we departed, leaving Didier behind
to follow with the paperwork.
But we couldn’t go very fast.
The pace of an expedition is determined
by the slowest vehicle - and in our
case our overloaded trucks. We could
only travel about 35 miles an hour,
and we needed to cover 700 miles.
With necessary stops for flat tires,
loose electrical wires, and an oil
leak on the big truck, we actually
only averaged 30 miles an hour.
The struggle to get out of Niamey
was rewarded with an unforgettable
cultural experience at the last days
of the desert Cure Salee - the Salt
Festival. This yearly event is one
of the few that brings together the
nomads of Niger.
A non-stop
show of desert nomad fashion, this
year’s Cure Salee brought together
more than 2000 Touareg and Fulani
(Wodaabe) nomads to the desert oasis
of In Gall. In Touareg culture it
is the males who are veiled, rather
than the females; Wodaabe tradition
holds males responsible for make-up
and intricate hair braiding.
...continued
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