Yelwa

Yelwa, or Yauri, is a town in Kebbi State in Nigeria. This is an interesting, picturesque town where the Niger River is part of the scenery.

Understand
Yelwa is the market centre and trade hub of the Yauri Emirate. Besides trade, its economy centres around agriculture. Major export crops include onions, rice, and cotton, although Yelwa also produces considerable amounts of sorghum, millet, cowpeas, peanuts, sugarcane, shea nuts, tobacco, kola nuts, peppers, beans, fish, cattle, and guinea fowl. Most farmers in the Yelwa area are subsistence farmers, and most rent the land they farm or are sharecroppers.

In 1996, the writer Isidro A. T. Savillo wrote a novel called Yelwa-Yauri, which includes descriptions of the town.

Climate
It may be very sunny and hot, very rainy and windy with lots of thunderstorms or there is a sandstorm from the Sahara desert at a particular time of the year.

Get in
From European cities like Rome, you may take a flight to Kano International Airport, then get a private car for Sokoto until you reach Yelwa, Yauri to the south. Before landing at the Kano International airport, you will be treated to a nice view of a long span of the Sahara desert in the country of Niger. Gather food for this long trip to Sokoto and there maybe stop- over restaurants. If you wish, You may stay overnight in Sokoto in one of their best hotels before proceeding to your trip to Yelwa Yauri. There maybe a vehicle like a taxi at the Kano International airport that could gather all visitors going to particular place usually cities like Sokoto. If you have a chaffeur, due to his religion he has to stop sometime along the way for his prayer.

Get around
You may see the small town using a private car. Yelwa Yauri, being the intersection of Kotangora road and highway further south, you can also drive through its outskirts and enjoy the views. The huge orange sun can be observed during sunset. Camels, ponies, squirrels, sometimes owls being displayed could be seen along the way. A herd of cows may occasionally cross the roads and halt you for a while. Monkeys can sometimes be seen in the roadside.

See
See the Niger River and interesting places such as the abattoir, secondary school and the college, the mudhouses, their local bakeries or you may want to explore some bush areas. If so, consider hiring a guide. Also visit the Emirate palace, the church and the docking area in the river where the fishermen sell their fishes. You can also ride in motor boats with experts in the Niger River and observe the numerous migratory birds. Across the Niger river is a small Game reserve and sometime rhinoceros can be seen crossing the river to graze on the people's sorghum plantation during the night. By chance, you may be able to experience this phenomenon. Vultures are very common. It is very inviting to approach the Niger River in some uninhabited areas but it would be nice if you have a partner with you or you are equipped with precautionary skills such as your ability to run fast in case of a wild animal chase. People living in mudhouses near the river are the first to spot in case there is a wild animal in the vicinity especially during the night. They usually raise their arms with clenched fist and say "Sano" as a way of saying hello- their own form of friendly greetings.

Do
Get photos of the numerous wild birds (lots of species) especially during twilight where they cover the sky flying back to their homes for their night rest and the huge trees (see the Baobab trees near the river), and the wonderful landscapes of plains and plateaus, boulders and huge highways. If you wish, you can stay for a year or so and observe nesting birds in your tomato plants or take care of a talatallo, a turkey or see the multi- colored lizards in your walls or experience the towering growth of grasses and expansive crowns of trees after the rain or view the vibrancy of a flock of pale velvet pigeon birds- where nature at this place is very much a proximity to human life.

Buy
Yelwa Yauri is known as the Commercial Nerve Center of the Kebbi State. There are lots of commodities that one can buy in different stalls especially in the Yauri markets. Yams, Rice, sorghum, a lot of Cow's meat, freshwater fishes though this has to be cooked properly, beans, clothing and sandal wears that come from other places. Medicines are also available in the hospital. Fruits, vegetables and other goods are very common and these are sold and traded by cooperatives and enterprises such as the Garba Gani Yauri Nigeria enterprise, Karamchi Fadama Farmers Co- Operative Association Yauri, Yauri Emirate Young Maize Farmers Cooperative Association and Yauri Onion Farmers Cooperative Association.

Eat
There is the Happiness Restaurant located at Yelwa-Yauri Area, Yauri, Kebbi, Nigeria.

Drink
Coca Cola is very common. Fruit sodas may be present in some stores.

Sleep
Hillside Hotel off the Kontagora Rd.

Go next
Lagos via highways.