Some places are tourist honey pots for a good reason. The Dogon country is one of Mali's tourist honey pots. It deserves its status. The villages of the Dogon people are clustered around picture postcard scenery - a remote escarpment that was easy to defend from rivals. The Dogon people also have a unique culture. It's a must see destination best done by walking from village to village. This means you must be prepared to do without electricity, to use bucket showers and squat toilets, and sleep on the roofs of houses with only the stars and the moon for illumination. [View Full Entry]

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I've been taking it very easy for a few days, in fact I spent several days in bed! The morning after I arrived in Bamako I fell ill, with Malaria. That is despite the prophylaxis I have been taking. Malaria can never be taken lightly - it kills one million children in Africa every year. I arrived in Bamako on the evening of Tuesday 8th of February. At that point I felt fine. When I got up on the Wednesday morning I didn't feel rested. I also had loose bowel movements and felt nauseous. I went into town to find the [View Full Entry]

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After my 3 day trek in Dogon Country I returned to Bandiagra on Tues 21 Dec to find Neil waiting for me at a campsite just outside of town at Hotel Toguna. Unfortunately his trip had been cut short on day 1 - he'd got stuck in a swamp, used the Diff Lock Gear to get himself out, but then been unable to take it off afterwards. He'd decided to abort his trip, anxious about the possibility of causing lasting damage to the gearbox. That night, as we swapped stories of our separate adventures, we were surprised to find the campsite [View Full Entry]

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After the hassle of Bamoko we headed east to Severe, Mopti and Dogon Country. We'd both decided to do our own thing for a couple of days - Neil wanted to go off-roading with the Landrover in swampland, maybe even get to Timbuktu & I wanted to spend some days trekking in Dogon Country. So, with Mac's Refuge at Severe as our base we set off on our trips. That was after I'd spent a whole hour changing travellers cheques at a bank - I'm still at a loss as to how it took that long but that long it did [View Full Entry]

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We eventually made it to Kidira last Friday - 10th December and what a contrast the border crossing was - we had to hunt out all the officials & one of them even let us film him stamping the vehicle carnet! But, it all turned out to be too good to to be true...we arrived in Kayes & promptly got stopped by the Police who were not nice at all...they were very upset with the dodgy insurance we'd bought at Rosso in Senegal. After 1 1/2 hours of debate, we finally acknowledged that our Senegal insurance for the whole of West [View Full Entry]

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The rainy season seems to have begun in earnest. The rain still falls mostly at night, but it’s power and fury are like nothing I have seen before. Here, one is never surprised by the onset of a storm. Piercing cracks of thunder and seemingly interminable lightning strikes (a fireworks displays that many would be proud to emulate) slowly, inexorably wage successful battle against the fierce unforgiving sun. The sky becomes dark gray, a few shades this side of ebony, and the winds start to howl and swirl ferociously, and finally, almost anti-climactically, the torrential downpour begin [View Full Entry]

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One of the neat things about living in various places and not just passing through is being able to observe and sometimes participate as the local people celebrate or commemorate the principal stages of the life cycle: birth, coming-of-age, marriage and death. In Japan I was privileged to attend a wedding of a fellow teacher, and although the Western influence on the dress and ceremony was strong, the Japanese setting created an atmosphere that hinted of ancient rites and customs, unique to their culture. Similarly, at a coming-of-age ceremony which celebrated entrance into adulthood at age [View Full Entry]

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I am currently in Bamako, the capital of Mali, as I > write this, my town, Ouelessebougou, not being > sufficiently advanced to have access to the internet. > Bamako is a vibrant, bustling city of more than a > million, but it is very much a local place with > sidewalks filled with street vendors. There is no 5 > star hotel per se, but of course there are some > luxurious accomodations and fancy western restaurants > for the occasional foreigner who stumbles into this > city. The national museum is pretty impressive, but > unfortunately Ma [View Full Entry]

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Thanks for all your messages, sorry that the weather in the UK is not good, its really hot and sunny here! We are of course still having a brilliant time. Christmas day we spent in a campsite near the small town of Bandiagara in Dogon Country (50 people and one toilet!!) We did a huge cooked breakfast without the meat, a light lunch then a massive dinner. We'd bought a pig and a goat that the campsite slaughtered and cooked for us (and upset people by bringing in the live goat on the back of a moped, draggin it “screaming” round [View Full Entry]

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We have now arrived in Bamako, the capital of Mali. It is roasting here, up to 37 C in the shade, and I am sure that things will get hotter. Thanks for all the mail you've been sending. From Nouakchott to Nema the road was newish tarmac and we drove a good 400km each day. We didnt stop really for anything other than toilet stops, lunch and a quick stop in any towns for food etc. The scenery started off as typical desert, rolling sand dunes, flat sand as far as you can see. The second day out we drove through [View Full Entry]

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