African Postcards

Since starting to write up my diaries from cycling through Africa 20 years ago, I have come across a few artefacts which I had completely forgotten about. Much of what I have found are letters I wrote to Penny which, fortunately, she kept. What struck me was that these days it would be unlikely that I would be writing letters or sending cards to friends and family. I am sure that most of my correspondence would be via email or text.

And that would be a shame. I found two letters to Penny which were written on hand made cards which I bought from traders in the camp sites we stayed in Niger and Burkina Faso. One was hand painted and the other was a small piece of batik. I have scanned them and placed them below. I think they are rather beautiful and they show some of the subtle but super things that would have been missed if I had merely sent an email.  

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This is the cover of a card I bought in the camp site in Niamey, Niger. It shows a hunter carrying a bird, his water gourd and his spear.

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I bought this card from a boy in the streets in Ougadougou, Burkina Faso. It's a piece of batik depicting a deer grazing.