Hausa
It's not just an interesting language for which you might enjoy learning a few key phrases; it really will make your visit to maradi much easier if you can find somebody to teach it to you. learning vocabulary for money and commerce is helpful, as is learning some typical greetings. as in most of west africa, it is impolite in niger to get down to business without first asking at length about the health and well-being of your companion and his/her immediate family, their work, how the harvest is going, etc; being able to do this in hausa will highly endear your to the people you meet, and you will find it working magical effects: prices will go down, attempts to cheat you will diminish, helpfulness will increase, and rounds of drinks will suddenly disappear from the tab. it is not an understatement to say that learning some basic hausa will fundamentally change your relationship with the town, and in an entirely positive way.
Club Privé
Jump in the pool the club's main attraction; lots of expats just call the place 'the pool' or play a few sets of tennis you may need your own equipment on the court, or lift weights in the gym. you technically need to be a paying member to get in, but the owner, mainassara, is a very nice guy who runs a business and normally you can persuade him to let you in, especially if you buy food, or sell you a day pass. you are very likely to meet both some wealthy nigerien families and many of the aid workers and expats who live in maradi, and it's a perfect place to cool down in one of earth's hottest countries. the menu is expensive but it caters to foreigners, you also can get cold drinks and alcoholic beverages. some days, in season, he'll even offer to sell you pomelos off the fruit tree in back. the club is down a side road and past the city limits; either make arrangements to call a taxi, or be prepared to walk about a mile uphill before you reach a point where you'll find one. incidentally, the 'water scorpions' you are likely to find sharing the pool with you are truly unsettling to look at, but they are not scorpions and they are harmless. if you still can't bear to be in the water with it and you don't have the nerve to touch it, the staff will fish it out for you; this is a daily occurrence.
Maradi is a blue-collar city in one of Earth's least developed countries, so you probably won't find much work that will be worth your while unless you're some sort of Discovery Channel-type wanting to demonstrate to the world. Like most of the world's countries, you can find a huge market for people who want to learn English; you can find decent interest in Chinese and Arabic as well. The amount that any but the absolute wealthiest would be able to pay for the service, however, is very small. If you really, really need an income, your best bet may be to contact the NGOs in Maradi, especially if you have any international development experience or can demonstrate a technical skill. The rumors that getting NGO jobs is difficult are true, but they are primarily true if you get hired as a foreign national. Many NGOs would be very happy to have a Westerner walk in their doors on-site and ask for work at a competitive local salary, having already gotten there at his or her own expense. Even this tactic, however, is more likely to work out for you in Niamey or Zinder, so the best recommendation is probably not to travel to Maradi looking for work if you are a Westerner.
Wander
Everyday life in a city like maradi is like nothing you are likely to have seen before, and though you will certainly be noticed, you will not attract a crowd the way you might in some other cities or in the countryside. it is also very safe; there are no 'bad neighborhoods' in the way westerners understand the concept, so you are unlikely to be at risk if you leave the beaten path. especially, take a walk through the older quarters around the chief's palace on the northwest side of the city; you'll get a real feel for an old african city, complete with some colonial-era houses and some very impressive mud houses, including two-story ones with improbable added features like balconies and glass windows.
Haggle in the Market
Bargaining your way through a west african market can be a fantastically entertaining way to spend an afternoon, and if you're looking for a chance to get into the swing of things before you encounter the markets and tourist shops in niamey or zinder where they have more things that you might actually want to buy, but conversely they are also absolutely trying to screw you then go out for a dry run to buy a mango, a bolt of fabric, or a piece of minor jewelry in the maradi market or in one of the specialty shops along the market's periphery. prices here will be less, and the markup you get for bring a foreigner will also be less. be friendly; bargaining is a social activity, and you'll want to start by asking after the merchant's health and family, just like any other polite conversation. ask for a price on what you want; often, you'll be asked to pick out everything you want before you get a final quote the more you buy, the less you'll be charged per item. for food, you can generally give a counter-offer of about 2/3 the quote; for things like textiles you might even try 1/2. sometimes this will draw a flat-out refusal; in this case, in niger it's ok to amend your offer; alternately, you might get a counter-offer from the merchant, and the process will continue. if you're trying to get that last discount, consider flattery "because you're a good friend!" or the phrase saboda gobe, a hausa expression implying that you should get a good price because you'll come back tomorrow or recommend the merchant to your friends; your use of this phrase alone will delight many merchants. unlike in many asian or middle eastern cultures, bargaining in niger with all but the most shameless of tourist traps should remain a friendly process; do not insult the merchant or his wares unless the item is legitimately flawed; if you want it anyway, this justifies a discount and if you sense that the merchant is become legitimately angry with you, then you're driving too hard. remember that these people are very poor by any standard you relate to; if he puts you out ten extra cents, is it really that big a deal?
Festivals
Check your calender before you visit, or ask around. niger has a variety of major festivals, and most are based off of the muslim lunar calendar, and so their dates change. ramadan, the month of fasting, can bring a general slowdown and some sluggishness to maradi, but if you're lucky enough to be there for eid, at the end of the month, then you must absolutely take a taxi out to tibiri, 20 minutes away. tibiri is the home of the sarki, one of the most powerful men in traditional hausa culture, and the plaza in front of his palace becomes the scene of an extravagant festival during eid, where people come from hundreds of miles around to watch traditional musicians and the palace guard parade and perform pageants on horseback commemorating the king's triumphs over his enemies and celebrating the end of ramadan. the city also features the region's most impressive mosque, where the prayers will be held in the morning. likewise, the cuir salee salted, or dried leather festival, a traditional fulani festival, occurs to the north of dakoro in this region once a year; the festival features traditional wrestling and beauty pageants, among other things, and if you go you may rest assured that you are witnessing something that only a handful of western eyes have ever seen.
Chat
With anybody and everybody you meet. hausas, and nigeriens in general, are incredibly talkative and very friendly. they love talking about themselves and will be happy to learn everything about you. if you take the time to sit and talk with some of the people you meet, you will have the chance to learn everything you ever wanted to know about life in maradi and in niger not to mention about the weather this season, what your friend's grandfather did and is now famous for, and every member of your companion's family, including his one eligible child who you really should marry. if you are exceptionally friendly, you run the risk of being invited back to your companion's house for a lavish dinner and the chance to drink tea and talk into the late hours of the night, and to come out and see his field or his herd in the morning. rejecting such an offer is difficult without creating hurt feelings, and frankly, establishing such a relationship is probably the best way to get advice on your visit, as well as creating a lasting friendship.
Follow nomads
If you are in the area as the rainy season is ending in october, ask if the nomads are traveling south at the moment. if they are, consider wandering out to the main highway to see them. many fulani and tuareg herders make the journey south through maradi down to nigeria, passing on a trail just to the north and west of the city. at the zenith of this migration, you can witness an incredible spectacle as family after family with thousands of goats, sheep, cattle, and camels pass that way, one after the other, more or less exactly as they have for hundreds have years.
Party at the Mess
Originally, this was the dining room for a military base, hence the name. now it's one of maradi's best-known dance clubs, with both afrobeat and international pop and hip-hop selections and a reasonably diverse crowd of locals and expats. it is a little on the pricy side for a night out in maradi, but is one of the closest things to a western-style nightclub in a very conservative muslim town. it is almost directly opposite the club privã©, and carries with it many of the same transportation concerns. what's more, you're likely to be leaving the mess in the dead of night on an unlit road through millet fields in which live animal hazards you've never heard of, and probably wearing sandals. think it through now, while you're sober.