富拉尼人:富拉尼人是一个拥有 2500 万人口的庞大族群,分布在十几个非洲国家,以前我在喀麦隆也拜访过那里的山区富拉尼族。尽管他们当中许多人现在已经从游牧改为定居生活,但仍有大约 1200 万人在游牧。 因此,他们是世界上最大的超级移民团伙。他们随意跨越现代国家边界,为他们的牲畜寻找水源和食物。 我在旅行中遇到了许多富拉尼家庭团体。 作为游牧民族,他们拥有的一切都必须是便携的。 以下图片是我纪录的一个富拉尼家族正在迁移。 驴背上棒状的东西是帐篷支架。
什么叫阿尔法男?看这个家庭就知道了。整个家族只有一个男人,其余皆为妇孺。富拉尼妇女在婚后会把下嘴唇用墨水染成黑色纹身,仔细看的话,老者脸上也有很多纹身的花纹。这是她们的审美传统。
带领大家参观一下我们在选美节上的营地吧。之前说过,本届选美节共有来自世界各地的37名旅行者前来观看 (我们是在不同时间抵达/出发,参加不同天数的活动,有各自不同的日程),但殊途同归,在选美节期间,我们都是住在这同一片营地上。
组织者想得还蛮周到。发电机每天固定时间工作几个小时,需要充电的同学抓紧时间,过时不候。要知道,这37人当中很多是粉丝无数的当红博主,influencer, 每天拍照拍录像就是他们的主要任务,当然要保证器材有电。
营地的食堂设备:
沙漠里的夜晚,只有皎洁的月光陪伴你。
那两顶蓝色的帐篷是厕所。但大家很快就弃之不用,转而入乡随俗,在大自然放飞自我了。
一只小牛好奇地观察帐篷里的乾坤
非洲总是有着比世界其它地方更动人心魄的夕阳。也许是因为它的辽阔,也许是因为它的贫瘠,也许是因为它最接近原始的样子。我今天看到的景色与万年前没有什么两样。
最近有些懒,就直接把我的英文原帖放在这里,不改写中文了。
From Livestock to Leather -- The Story of Animals
The journey of leather starts from the rain and the grass. Goats and cows are herded by dessert nomads who chase after water and greens.
After the animals grow into maturity, the owners may choose to sell them in livestock market.
I did not get to visit an abattoir in Niger, but I did get to see some killings at the Gerewol.
This poor little lamb witnessed her friend/siblings being slaughtered right in front of its very eyes, and she probably knew she's going to be the next.
After the slaughter, the meat goes into cooking pot, the skin is being flayed, and any other byproduct is sold in an open market for consumption either as food or as artifacts and jewelry making material.
The animal hides were sent to tanneries for further processing. I was fortunate enough to visit a local tannery in Niamey. Much of the work was done in pungent ammonium water manually by young workers. The place is dirty and foul odored, but the leather came out beautiful and lux.
Cow hides are soaked in tanks of stagnant water
I've seen larger tanneries at Fez, Morocco, but not this close.
They can produce almost any color they wish with the combination of leaf and root extract.
Local artisan making leather products in the market.
The process of producing leather is definitely not pretty, even cruel at times. I now understand why some people are against using any leather products.
However, how does not consuming leather products help those people whose survival are dependent on various links of this process? That, I do not know.