Indigo Dye Pits

We had heard of the famous Indigo Dye Pits near Kofa Mati Gate and Sani had got out of the van to negotiate with a guide how much it would cost. The pits are among the oldest in whole of Africa! Whilst waiting, we received a message to come in across a very busy road. We see minor accidents every time we go into the city. Having navigated ourselves across the busy road, we found Sani in negotiation with someone else. We had been unknowingly lured out of the mini-van by another guide who wanted our custom. After a minor spat we listened to Yusuf our guide who told us about the process of dying cloth deep blue!

Indigo is very similar to henna and is grown and processed in the same way. Water, ash, potassium and indigo plant is put into a calabash and mixed in the correct quantities. Then put into a well about 6 metres deep and left to ferment, mixed with a giant pole. The ash adds brightness to the colour, the potassium fixes the dye to the material and the indigo colours it blue.

After a suitable amount of time, the cloth is dipped, if left in too little it comes out greenish so it is important to get the timing right. The cloth is lifted regularly for the oxygen in the air to help the process. Tie dye patterns are often knotted in with string before the dying process starts.

When we take a picture of someone at work, they get offended unless you offer them a little money called ‘dash!’

Yusuf was very informative and then showed us how the cloth is ironed. Strong armed men wield large wooden mallets and beat the cloth on split logs. This was followed by the inevitable hard sell as white people are regarded as being very rich by comparison to the workers in the dye pits. I bought some cloth with tie dye patterns which I will bring back to school. Mrs Clements will be thrilled with yet another artefact for our collection. We kept Yusuf with us for the next part of our trip around the city when we visited a tannery...