Travelogue: City of
Sake Amfani
Location: North-west Nigeria, in the desert not far from
Niger.
Population: 8 million (Approx.)
You stare down the long, empty road. The sun, scorching; you
feel dehydrated. In the distance, you can see structures, you are unsure of
what they are. You look behind you, the recycling plant, the building you just
left. You had just been in there to ask for directions, they pointed you in the
direction of the distant structures. You asked what was there, they replied: “A
city where nothing is wasted.” Looking back at the plant, you see many
recycling trucks dump all their contents and drive off again, but suddenly a
new vehicle appears, this doesn’t seem to be carrying rubbish and it seems to
be heading towards to city.
You stop the driver and ask if he can give you a lift. He
seems to be in a good mood, he offers to take you to the city. He asks if you’ve
ever been this way before, you haven’t. He chuckles, asks if you even know
where you are, you don’t. “The city ahead of us is Sake Amfani, the city of
reuse.” He explains. “Most of the other major cities here in Nigeria waste a
lot of materials, one day the founder became annoyed with such waste and
decided to build homes with it. The site of the city was once considered to be
landfill, but now it shines like an oasis!”
As you approach the city, the structures are still difficult
to make out, but they are very clearly buildings. You ask what this lorry is. “Material
transport. Many of the materials used in the city are made from recyclables. We
make them at the plant and then we bring them up to the city for construction.
Behind us is about a ton of plastic; ready to be used in the construction of a
new home.” Houses made of recycled plastic? That sounds like an optimist’s
fantasy, but as you get closer to the city, you notice to road change from the
desert path, to something that looks almost like tarmac. “Even the roads here
are made of recycled material. Treated of course. Normal plastic wouldn’t be
able to handle the heat.”
You’re almost at the city. The driver pulls up next to a construction
site. “I’ve got to stop here and unload the material. Just continue into the
city, if you need a place to stay for the night, go to the centre, there they
can give you a key to a room in either the wall or the tower.” You both step
out of the vehicle. You thank the driver for helping and you part ways.
Before entering you look into the city. You see huts of mud
brick, wells of cobblestone, houses of plastic, buildings of metal, numerous
structures made from stacked shipping containers and lamp post using bleach in
bottles as a light source. This city seems oddly surreal and entirely possible
at the same time. You venture inwards.
The outer-city acts almost like a small village. People talk
like they all know each other and the houses look rather packed up closely. You
take your time walking through, watching a farmer feed his cattle, watching
children run around in a small park, witnessing a woman paint the outside of
her plastic home a pale red. There is a strange sense of home here. You would
stay here a get to know the neighbourhood, but you feel like you’re melting and
your throat is absolutely parched. You go inwards, hoping to find something to
drink.
A little further in and you find what appears to be the
market. Clothes, spices, fresh meat, vegetables, jewellery, random little
trinkets. Almost anything you could think of is probably being sold here. Reason
would also dictate that the items for sale would probably made from recycled
material too. At the end of the market is a well. Oh, thank goodness, you think to yourself. You march over to the
well in hopes of scoring a drink. You walk past all the market stalls. Oh? It
turns out you was right, everything made at this clothes stall is made from
recycled cloth. At least that’s what it says on the banner. You made it to the
well. An old man sitting by it, looks up at you and immediately offers a cup of
water. You gladly accept the water and then ask what is he doing? “I’m in
charge of the well here. This is well 3. There are 18 wells across the city,
making sure that everyone has enough water. Today is a hot day, so I pre-emptively
collect some for whenever people need it”. He smiles. You smile back and say
thank you. Continuing forward, you find it odd how nice people are here, but
you figure that there’s no need to worry about it.
You arrive at the city wall. A large wall made up of
numerous building blocks. This wall extends around the entirety of the
inner-city. It’s not much of a defensive wall, however; the entrances are far
too big and frequent to keep anyone out. Walking through the wall and into the
inner-city, the sheer number of people about has increased dramatically. This
is more like a city.
Busy streets. Hundreds of pedestrians. It would be easy to
lose track of where you are, if it weren’t for the giant tower at the centre of
the city. That’s where the driver said you should go, right? You head there. It
doesn’t take too long; crossing some roads, trying not to bump into people,
basic city survival. The tower looks incredibly daunting. A skyscraper,
hundreds of feet into the air. You wonder when this was built. You don’t think
about that for long though, the sun is infuriatingly hot and you just want to
lay down. You walk into the building. It looks similar to a fancy hotel. You
walk over to the welcome desk. You ask if there is anywhere you could stay. The
receptionist says there are some rooms free in the wall. She hands you the key
and tells you where to go. Back to the wall.
After a quick walk over and a climb up a flight of stairs,
you arrive at your room. A pale orange block made of sandstone. You open the
door. Wow. Much like the rest of the city, the room is remarkably clean, it is
actually quite cool in here and the window gives a fantastic view over the
outer-city. You collapse onto the bed, it’s soft and comfortable. You think you
might stay here for a bit. Continuing the trek can come later, but for now you
just want to revel in the beauty.
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