The Niger Boatman
Mopti, Mali 1998
I sat on the bank of the Niger River across from our hotel. Fine, dust-like sand from the Sahara turned the air a pale brown, almost hiding the straw huts of the Bozo village on the opposite banks. I watched as laughing women laundered bright colored clothing and lay them to dry on the sandy bank. Long pinasses loaded to the gunwales with pottery, firewood, or sacks of millet floated to the market in Mopti. Young muscular men put their back into the task of poling the heavy craft down river. Time was of the essence. The sooner the boat was unloaded the sooner they could take on more freight and begin the trip up river.
The passengers in the pinasse are Touareg and Fulani men. The Touareg wear the tagelmoust (turban) and the Fulani wear the wide-brimmed straw hat. In looking at my slides, it seems that men and women took separate boats unless they belonged to the same family.
Although it appears that the man in the front is checking his phone for messages, he isn’t. This was 1998 and no one had any idea about instant messaging in those days.
I wish I could have included more of the reflection in the river rather than the river itself. (the upper part of the photo is now cropped from my photo). I couldn’t though, because the boat was only feet from the river bank. The boats keep close to the shore…maybe because the passengers can’t swim?? Silhouettes aren’t my favorite, but I like the boatman’s posture. It tells us the boatman is skillful and hard working.