December 2, 2005: Headlines: COS - Niger: Washington Post: I have a son with the Peace Corps in Niger. I'd like to visit him with a friend, so we will be two women traveling alone. Do you have suggestions about safety, transportation, tours and how much we can cover in two weeks?
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December 2, 2005: Headlines: COS - Niger: Washington Post: I have a son with the Peace Corps in Niger. I'd like to visit him with a friend, so we will be two women traveling alone. Do you have suggestions about safety, transportation, tours and how much we can cover in two weeks?
I have a son with the Peace Corps in Niger. I'd like to visit him with a friend, so we will be two women traveling alone. Do you have suggestions about safety, transportation, tours and how much we can cover in two weeks?
I have a son with the Peace Corps in Niger. I'd like to visit him with a friend, so we will be two women traveling alone. Do you have suggestions about safety, transportation, tours and how much we can cover in two weeks?
I have a son with the Peace Corps in Niger. I'd like to visit him with a friend, so we will be two women traveling alone. Do you have suggestions about safety, transportation, tours and how much we can cover in two weeks?
I have a son with the Peace Corps in Niger. I'd like to visit him with a friend, so we will be two women traveling alone. Do you have suggestions about safety, transportation, tours and how much we can cover in two weeks?
Louisa Magzanian, Silver Spring
Regardless of the destination, women should always follow the same safety guidelines -- avoid underpopulated, dark areas, don't take rides from strangers, etc. -- though some places may require more vigilance than others. In Niger, for example, women should dress more formally in the tribal villages than in the capital, trading their shorts for skirts and covering up bare skin. But overall, the West African country is safe for two women traveling together. "Niger is one of the countries we rarely have issues with," says Barbara Daly, a Peace Corps spokeswoman, adding, "We have 131 volunteers in Niger, and the majority are women."
Before you go traipsing around the capital of Niamey, though, Evelyn Hannon, editor of Journeywoman.com, the online travel resource for women, offers some safety tips.
Dress appropriately, per their culture and religion. (Niger is 80 percent Muslim.)
Only take transportation and tours that are accredited or recommended by a respected source. Ditto for your accommodations. Also, reserve your hotel in advance, so you are not foraging for lodging after dark.
When registering at the hotel, make sure the staff does not call out your room number or name.
Before heading off on a tour, leave the tour company name and contact info with the front desk, and let it know your estimated return time.
Do not tell any strangers where you are staying. If you plan to rendezvous with a new acquaintance, meet at a popular gathering spot near your hotel, not in your hotel.
Journeywoman ( http://www.journeywoman.com/ ) also has a sister site at http://www.hermail.net/ , where women can e-mail other women who live at specific destinations or have recently visited there and can answer questions.
During your time there, Masaba Baop, of the embassy's visa department, says, "It's impossible to see the whole country in two weeks." Instead, she recommends visiting the capital, then taking side trips to nearby attractions, such as Agadez, where the Touareg tribe lives and makes colorful clothing and jewelry; the desert oasis of Bilma; and the W National Park, home of hippos, elephants and warthogs. Baop also warns visitors to take taxis or rent a car and avoid the crowded public buses. For more information: Embassy of Niger, 202-483-4224, http://www.nigerembassyusa.org/ .
When this story was posted in November 2005, this was on the front page of PCOL:
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Story Source: Washington Post
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