Kano Dye Pits

After we toured the Museum, our next stop was the dye pits. They have beeen using the same methods to dye fabric with indigo for 500 years. Each pit is 6 meters deep. They mix an indigo dye that is used to dye the fabric a deep blue. They use a method similar to tye dye to creat beautiful patterns in the fabric.

The man who gave us a tour of the dye pits was kind enough to take us back to his home where is wife was making the patterns in the fabric. She used her fingers and string and pulled it tight with her teeth. When died, this pattern will end up looking like the circle pattern in the picture below.

As we walked in the residental area near the dye pits, the children greeted us with smiling faces. They were saying "hello, hello!" but it came out sounding like "Alo, Alo". They were so excited to meet us and wanted to shake our hands. Two little boys followed us all the way across the street to walk us to our cars. They weren't begging or anything. Just curious, as we did tend to stick out a little! The children that I met in Nigeria, while poor, are happy little people who show the joy on their faces.