Ouagadougou

Hi Everyone,

Seemingly a lot of time has passed since the last update, somewhere in the region of 10 days. Unfortunately, I'm unable to add pics from where I am, however, I will outline what we've been up to...

We left Bamako and headed to Djenné, home of the largest mud mosque in the world and certified UNESCO world heritage site. It's a place that constantly amazes me, so much mud, so well used! They're currently in the process of renovating the mosque - this is something they do every year by adding more mud to the outside walls, however, this year they have embarked on a new programme which should mean that the renovation needs only happen every 3 years, or every 10, we forget! Whatever, it is still a spectacular site, the people are lovely and the view from the top of the hotel where we camped is unforgettable.

From Djenné we drove back down to the river (all of 5 mins) and climbed aboard a luxury pirogue (complete with roof, motor and stove) and set off up the river towards Mopti. This was an overnight trip that involved a couple of stops in local riverside villages along the way, complete with large numbers of hugely over excited children, all spewing a mixture of bad French and local dialect, the result of which was difficult to comprehend. Luckily it's not hard to realise that sweets and empty water bottles are the order of the day, and so there were lots of smiling faces wherever we went, especially content once their photos had been taken and shown to them countless times!

Arriving in Mopti we settled down for lunch in a restaurant just removed from the busy port and rather fittingly ate some fish. From here it was a short trip to Sevaré, via a supermarket of sorts to restock our supplies and on to a campsite called Via Via. Another good roof to pitch tents and a cheap bar meant many happy faces. Even happier once they realised that their evenings' transport to the local bar and music venue consisted of two donkey carts. Not that the locals didn't lap that up as well, 10 Europeans/Americans and Australians on the back of 2 donkey carts, a classic stunt! A good night out with great local music followed by several midnight snacks of bread and omelette before heading to bed at what feels like a very late 2am over here.

The following morning was a fairly relaxed affair, with all we needed to do to drive to Bandiagara, the gateway to the Dogon Country. Most were tired and slept the miles away in the back of the truck, but those that weren't watched the awesome scenery unfold before us, as African village gives way to almost moonscape rock formations. Very cool indeed, and more to follow over the next few days.

I saw little of Bandiagara, other than our hotel/campite, as we were only there for Sunday evening before leaving early on Monday for our 3 day hike in Dogon Country. Our guide, Mamadu, met us at the hotel and we left together for what was to become an unforgettable 3 days.

Arriving in Dogon Country is like arriving in no other place. It is truly unique, and although more touristy than my last visit, still sublime. The moonscape makes way for a huge escarpment opening out onto a valley, in the middle of which lies spread about Dogon villages. Some lie atop the escarpment, some cling to the rock face at the bottom and others lie on the flat fground at the bottom of the valley, however, all are watched over by countless small caves bored into the cliffs of the escarpment high above everything else - these are the houses of the ancient Tellem, a pygmy people that lived there long ago. Nobody really knows when they left or why, and how they lived so high up in the cliffs above, however, the spectacle of seeing their houses and the Dogon villages that lie alongside (although underneath) is unbelievable. On the second day we had a ceremonial dance from one of the Dogon villages which was a vision of masks and purple skirts, sleeves and anklets. All the dancers were male and the result was fantastic. Afterwards we learnt all about the different masks (there were 31 separate dancers, mostly all in different masks) and the stories behind them were intriguing.

A 9km walk after the dance and we found our sleeping place for the night, ate and bedded down, exhilarated and elated but tired. After all, tomorrow we would be climbing back up the tall escarpment.

Awaking early due to countless donkeys, chickens and pigs, not forgetting children, birds and the rhythmic sound of pounding millet, we dressed and assembled for a breakfast of tea, coffee, doughnuts and bread. Afterwards, a short walk towards the next village along before turning a sharp right towards the cliff face and beginning the steep ascent back to what feels like the rest of Mali, this current land being so different.

It was not as difficult as I remember and we were back up at the top some 20 minutes later, most heaving for some air and gulping water, but others showing far more capability (the guides!). Back on what can be described as terra firma, we made the slow amble towards our final Dogon village, where we had a much needed soda (fizzy drink) and awaited Matt (our driver) and lunch.

Matt arrived in time for lunch, for which he was immensely grateful and we then set off back for Bandiagara. Another night there passed in similar fashion to the last one there, a few beers, some football on the TV and then bed. The next day we made for the Mali-Burkina Faso border and crossed with much simplicity into the next country on our journey. Just past the border we rough camped. Low on supplies but with true inspiration, we feasted on egg fried rice and baked beans and afterwards settled down to watch a cracking DVD of Michael McIntyre. Pure comedy genius. The rough camp was the quietest we had encountered so far and seemed removed from most other life, save for the (very) occasional motorbike that went past, and one very random large truck at about four in the morning.

The night was cold, but we had made a fire so the first thing Matt did was to relight it, allowing everyone to escape the chill. Th kettle was boiled and warm drinks were passed round before porridge was served and suddenly the sun was up and jumpers were being removed once more. A little further down the road we had to purchase the travel documents for the vehicle, followed by a brief meeting with the gendarmerie. Nothing special and all very normal, no problems and we were on our way, officially in our penultimate country. At about 11am, all feeling a bit hungry, we stopped in Yaka for some grilled guinea fowl. I think this town might remain etched on my memory for this sole reason - by far the best I've ever had and worth a journey from wherever you are now!

Back in the car and onto Ouagadougou, some 200km later. Not much of note on that stretch of road, save various motorcyclists carrying either 40 goats or 200 chickens. Trés amusant!

We're now in Ouaga, setting up camp in a swish hotel with a swimming pool and bar, good restaurant and air con. Unfortunately we'll be camping outside, which they let us do for free if we show "some good will" towards their bar. I don't think that'll be tricky.

All the best to all and sundry, we're off to Victoria's birthplace tomorrow, Bobo-Dioulasso, which is surely worth a toast.

Tom.

Bamako - 10/11/2009

I have finally been reunited with the group and had a good catch up with them all over breakfast this morning. They drove into Bamako at about 2pm yesterday and I flew in at 2.30 this morning. Mark and Rich have flown home, back to the day jobs, and from now on our tour driver will be Matt, an Australian based in Bamako. We're staying at his new guest house in town, The Sleeping Camel, and will be heading off towards Djenné tomorrow. As I write, the group are off exploring Bamako, visiting the museum and grabbing some chop (food). We'll have a catch up a little later as Matt and I have been going through potential routes from here on in until we finish in three weeks in Elmina, Ghana. It looks likely that we 'll be doing a boat trip up the Niger to Mopti, a walk through Dogon country and some rough camping before heading down to Burkina Faso into Ouagadouagou, Bobo-Dioulasso and into Ghana. From now the pace of driving slows a bit and there's more sight seeing to get involved with, something I hope will prove popular with the group, and from what I've gleaned so far will be very welcome indeed. Spirits are high and with the offer of live music tonight before getting back on the road tomorrow, Mali looks set to kick off to a great start.
Tom

Tuesday 3rd November

I've been getting a few text messages from the desert today, and word is that the truck should now have crossed the minefield and so into Mauritania. Since I last saw the team (on Friday), I have managed to secure a new passport and Ghanaian visa and am flying back to Nouakchott tomorrow to meet them as soon as they arrive there.

They've asked for sweets and AA batteries which I will happily return with - I'm also going to be strapping my passport to my leg. Lesson learnt!

Tom

Saturday

The whole of day 5 was spent on the road, covering 450km to reach a campsite near the border with Western Sahara. Western Sahara is a disputed territory claimed by Morocco but which is recognised as an independent state by around 80 countries. Its official status is still ‘disputed’ with the UN despite the fact that the controversy has been ongoing for over 30 years. A large proportion of the West Saharan people (or Sahrawis as they are known) are living in refugee countries in neighbouring Algeria – a country from which many goods are imported. Morocco’s treatment of the people and the country has been widely condemned and the standard and cost of living for the Sahrawis makes life very difficult.

On our way down, we stopped at a market where there were all kinds of fruit and vegetables for sale as well as chickens and camels (we found out that 1 woman was worth about 5000 Dirhams). We finally had the chance to indulge in the fruit that we have been craving for these first days, Rich enquired about buying a camel, and we also bought a pumpkin for our token American on the trip, Kristy, who was missing her slutty Halloween celebrations back home.

After a good 12 hours on the road running parallel to the Atlantic coast, Mark took a right hand turn into what looked like an empty abyss of desert. Most of us in the back had fallen asleep shortly after our Halloween celebrations (which included opening some beers, hiding beers from checkpoint police, singing national anthems and imitating different accents) but we woke to find ourselves off-roading and expecting that Mark had given up hope of us finding the campsite and opted for some rough camping in the desert. However, as we progressed we saw the odd sign with a tent and arrows indicating that maybe Mark did have an alternate plan in mind, and after 20 minutes or so we pulled up at an amazing little place complete with Bedouin-style tents, mattresses and warm showers. The campsite is owned by a French couple who have been living in the middle of nowhere for the last few years. We asked no questions, but the exact reasons why they are here doing what they do remain a mystery, The words ‘tax’ and ‘evasion’ may have been uttered over dinner, but we couldn’t possibly say by whom!

Unfortunately the promised camels steaks were not available because we were arriving too late, so Rich and Victoria treated us to a delicious lamb stew (sans testicle) and the Oxo Young Cook of the Year 1991, Rich managed to get by with a beef-flavoured Knorr cue rather than his ingredient of choice.

Those up early enough the following morning were able to admire the beautiful sunrise over the cactus studded, hard rock desert. After packing up the truck breakfast was served, what a treat after days of porridge: fried eggs, fresh bread, freshly squeezed orange juice, tea and coffee, and of course our favourite – cheese triangles. After leaving the goats our left over 2 day old pasta we head off to Laayoune and through our first border crossing into Western Sahara.

Friday from the team's perspective

Sidi Ifni and Sahara somewhere!

Km count: 580

Team leaders lost: 1

Further unexpected nights of being spoilt by luxury: 2

Number of lamb testicles bought: 1

On waking in the smelly surroundings of the Agadir campsite (and with poor Victoria spending a night in a tent on which a cat had relieved itself!) a few of us went to pick up some more tinned food to last us a few days in the desert while the others packed away the campsite. Tins, tins and more tins, Agadir being the world’s largest supplier of tinned sardines. We’ll leave you to imagine the smell.

The journey down to Sidi Ifni was not too long – about 130kms - and en-route we got the sad news that our leader Tom has had to fly home to get another passport. Unfortunately the Moroccan authorities could only issue a temporary passport to send him home and so is hoping to meet up with the rest of us later in the trip. Luckily, in the meantime, we have our experienced driving team, Mark and Rich to take care of us. On the downside, Tom has taken with him all of the team’s water sanitation tablets as well as a vital map! He was kind enough to leave us a bag of clothes and some smelly trainers though! Let’s hope he makes it out to join us as soon as possible!

We stopped off at a beautiful beach at a place called Sidi Ifni, a sleepy town with white, shuttered up houses which wouldn’t look out of place in southern Spain or Greece. The one thing that maybe makes it different is that the place was utterly deserted, with a few workmen bathing after a hard day’s work, a couple of children running around and us! The boys scampered up a rock and then ran into the sea to do some body surfing while the girls sat in the sun wondering what tonight’s facilities would be like. We then made our way to a campsite by the beach, complete with Wifi connection, a laundry service and hot showers, and pitched the tents right next to the sea and settled into a delicious veggie chilli. As Kristy announced to us after visiting the toilets “Guys, we have died and gone to camping heaven!”