Blogs from Mali, Africa - page 21

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. I've just come back from the Pays Dogon - it was brilliant! I booked with a tour company - a mistake. It's always better to book direct with the actual guides. You get the same ... read more

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 fill up with other travellers - the most we'd encountered since leaving Morocco. There was a huge truck with about 15 travellers from the UK, Europe and USA who were travelling to South Africa on ... read more

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 Africa was worthless & paid out another 30 pounds for a months worth of insurance for Mali - this should hopefully cover us for Burkino Faso & Ghana as well though! Highlight of the day ... read more

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 twenty, I saw young men dressed in Western-style suits and women dressed in gorgeous kimono with an elaborate bow tied across the back. They were eager to leave the gymnasium and begin exercising the «rights» that adults enjoy the world ... read more

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 the back of the camp, and then...silence...one dead goat!), then had roast pumpkin, roast onion, jacket spuds, coleslaw, gravy, banoffee pie and pizza (there are a couple of part Italians on the other truck who ... read more