A taste of old Africa – Nigeria in Second Life

I discovered Nigeria in Second Life‘s Saminaka sim when CNN‘s iReporter group in Second Life paid it a visit this week. It’s an interesting place that attempts to recreate the feel of parts of traditional Nigeria, the Nigeria that existed before oil, internet scams, and other modern day problems changed how so many view the real Nigeria.

Second Life’s Nigeria is a place of sandy beaches and a baked, cracked mud interior. One of the features is a walled village of round structures, with washing drying and a steamng laundry scrubbing bucket, picture to the right.

	Just up from that little village, nestled in a secluded pond at the foot of a waterfall, you’ll find this pier. In the bamboo growing around the pond there is an impala drinking and this kingfisher with a fish squirming in its beak.
As you walk up from the pond towards the commercial area, you’ll pass through some examples of Nigerian wild life: an ant hill with what might be thousands of ants streaming in and out, and two peacocks, including this one who struts in circles, occasionally spreading its tail as its doing in the picture to the right.
	The sim also contains a number of shops where you can buy African-themed items that include furniture, avatar skins, jewelry, clothing, and arts and crafts including what’s in the picture to the left, a shop that contains both traditional and contemporary African art. Second Life members can go there by clicking slurl.com/secondlife/Saminaka/123/142/31