Like the proverbial butterfly that flaps its wings on one side of the world, causing hurricanes on the other, the single bite of a mosquito in Africa can have dramatic consequences. Malaria is one of the biggest killers of sub-Saharan Africans, and in tropical, rainy season Ghana, the disease is endemic. We know, because Suze caught it a week ago, and is still convalescing in bed after a dramatic six days of fever, hospitalization, treatment, and recovery. But don't worry - she's fine now. Just when you think you are cruising along quite well, avoiding all the potential pitfalls of African travel, the continent has a habit of creeping up on you and reminding you just how tough it can be on human beings. Especially in the wet season, which is hitting the West with a ... read more

Segou-Dogon CountryTom Griffith It doesn't rain much in Mali, but when it does, it pours. In the past week, we have seen three big storms, several dramatic duststorms, and, sadly, our first floods - and flood victims. But more on that later... The rains first hit last Sunday, while we were on our way from Segou to Djenne, and the downpour caught us in the middle of a transport change in the middle of nowhere. We were forced to cower benath a tarp inside a wooden shack, neither of which provided much protection. Once the rain had died down a little, we attempted to cover the last 30km of our journey to Djenne. It took four hours. The car was an ancient Peugeot ute that looked like something out of a 1950s American movie. It had ... read more

Cape Verde-Dakar-Petite Cote_Sine Saloum Delta-TambacoundaTom Griffith Senegalese bus journeys are stressful enough, without a mad, drunk, Sierra Leonean musician shouting abuse at you, as you struggle to squeeze into a tiny seat, clutching your oversized backpack. We had somehow picked up this mad guy, who was drinking beer for breakfast, at our hotel, and when he saw my guitar he decided he was going to teach me how to play No Woman No Cry 'the way Bob played it', and follow us to wherever we were going that day, even though our destination happened to be 50 kilometres down the coast away from where he was staying. Luckily for us, he was on crutches, so we managed to shake him off on the way from the hotel, but hecaught up with us at the bus stop, ... read more

Nouakchott-St LouisTom Griffith At all of the border crossings I have made, whether in Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, or Asia, I have never once been asked for a bribe. Then I arrived in West Africa, and things changed. Leaving Mauritania via the depressingly awful border town of Rosso, I had our passports snatched from my hand by a policeman, who then wandered around with them for 20 minutes while Suze and I followed him. Eventually, a bigwig in an office signed them, and then they were taken away to be stamped. The policeman returned, handed Suze's back, but then kept mine and asked me to hand over some money. I smiled and pretended I didn't understand him. He then marched me over to his supervisor, who swung open the gate leading back into Mauritania ... read more

Ess-Agadir-Laayoune-DakhlaTom Griffith When is a country not a country? According to Morocco, and 25 other countries, and the Arab League, Western Sahara is not a real nation. It is simply the large, sandy, camel-infested, southern provinces of Morocco. According to the Western Saharan government in exile, 45 other countries, and the African Union, Western Sahara is the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, an independent country under Moroccan military control. And, according to the UN, it is a non self-governing territory, whatever that means. Whatever it is, and whoever actually owns it, it is basically just a huge patch of desert, and is one of the most sparsely-populated parts of the world. There are only about 350,000 people in the whole place, and 150,000 of them are Moroccan soldiers. So why would Morocco wan... read more