Baleyara

Baleyara is a town in Niger. It is two hours from Niamey on the route to Filingue.

Get in

Bush taxis leave early from the Wadatta (pronounced Wa-dah-TAH) gare in Niamey, CFA 1,750 per person in a minivan or slightly more in a station wagon. Or, you can rent out an entire station wagon for CFA 20,000 one-way. One decent driver is Oumarou, 96-62-73-96.

See and do

Sunday is market day in Balleyara, a 2-hour drive east from Niamey. The spectacular market gets going at about 10:00. Balleyara is known across West Africa for having one of the largest animal markets, with camels, long-horn bulls, horses, sheep, goats, and more for sale. Sellers and buyers come to the Balleyara animal market from all across Niger and other nearby countries. It also has a very lively regular market with a mix of Zarma, Bella, and Fulani cultures.

Buy

• Traditional hand-woven wedding blankets in bright, colorful patterns in various sizes and with complicated weaving.
• Black etched wooden bowls.
• Carved spoons, available from the same people as the black etched wooden bowls.
• Carved calabashes
• Pagne fabric sold by pagne (2 metres). Enitex brand from Niger is cheaper.

Eat and drink

Street food stands are your best option. You can also find delicious local bread and sweet bread. On the main road just outside the market are a couple of boutiques that serve food such as rice and sauce, omelet sandwiches, etc. Filtered and sealed water is for sale for 25F each, known as "PureWater" (pronounced Pure-Watta)

Sleep

There are no hotels in town but there is a new campement/resort about 3 km before town, with all the amenities. However, you could also visit Balleyara as just a day-trip from Niamey.

Connect

Good mobile phone reception.