Well I’m in Djenne to see the market and the Mosque. I spent Saturday looking around Mopti with Anil. These would-be guides are very, very annoying! They really detract from the Mali experience. Bought a ticket to go to Djenne by boat. Stupidly I paid in advance because the next day the boat turned out to be bogus! Down 4000CFA. Oh well, after a long wait caught a bush taxi to Djenne. Met a guide named “John Travolta” (WTF!) but I agreed to let him give me a tour. He turned out to be honest and didn’t try to screw me, [View Full Entry]

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Back in Mopti after a five day hike through Dogon Country with Anil and our guide Ibrahim! 1 July So this lazy day was spent in the pool talking to unattractive British girls and getting soaked in the rain. Anil and I met Ibrahim in the evening. We finalised our plan. We’ll be traveling with two French girls. Sweet! Right? 2 July When we got to Bandingara there was no sign of the French girls. We leave almost immediately for Douloo (odd?). Apparently the two girls are traveling around West Africa on one 125 cc Honda Motorcycle (very odd?). By this [View Full Entry]

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Well another night out with Yousouf and Arnaud last night. Met a Colonel in the Malian Army who seemed to like me and hooked me up with contacts in Timbuktu. Also he’s a good contact to have. Yousouf finally let me pay for a round (not that I was trying too hard to) and also gave me a CD. An early rise, a bit rough, and I was on the bus all day. I actually met Anil on the bus, which was good so we went to a better hotel than we’d planned in Mopti. Many annoying “guides”, but I can’t [View Full Entry]

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Well Yousouf is quite the quite the partier! His lawyer friend Arnaud took me to a bar where Yousouf met us after picking up Anil and the Nigerian kid, Raymond, we’d met the night before. We proceeded to pound ’em back on Yousouf’s tab (including supper). It was the most I’ve drank since Canada! I was somewhat loaded --- man my tolerance is low! Anil also hooked Anil up with someone in Djenne. We should meet up again on Saturday night in Mopti. Today I’m hungover. I went to a very good museum (Musee Nationale), but got hustled out of 5,000 [View Full Entry]

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The bus trip finally ended after some more great hospitality (the guy next to me shared his dinner with me and let me use his cell). The Malian boarder guards want plenty of bribes. We had to pass a hat around the bus to collect for them. It was too late when I arrived to get a hold of Baidou’s uncle Yousouf who’s supposed to look after me, so I spent last night in a hotel. I slept until 12:30 as I was so tired! I then moved to a dorm room where I met an American Anil and a Japanese [View Full Entry]

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A busy few days. The 23rd was a very long day travelling from Gambia to Dakar. I got scammed out of my last Delasis. When I finally got to Dakar I went to Salif’s house, which is a good deal: 7500 CFA per night with full board (and good company!). Turns out I missed Malik’s return to action (in soccer)! 0-0 against Team Senegal! Wow, it’s a good thing I didn’t go practice with them! At night I went out with Baidu. Listened to some chill music. Then we got some food at what appeared to be a brothel. Got to [View Full Entry]

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Chill day. So many hustlers saying “remember me?”. Saw some crocs and bought some more books! Also saw a pack of gay dogs fucking each other. Off to Dakar tomorrow. Also, man am I bad a ping-pong! Oh yes, at a museum I saw an exhibit that presented both sides of the story of female genital mutilation! Fuck, moral relativism! That shit is wrong! [View Full Entry]

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Well a rather long day of travel from Cap Skiring to The Gambia. Early rise thanks to Simon (5:30) and on the bus at 6:30. I hope he didn’t expect any cash? At the Gambian border I got pulled in to the border guards office for my “address”. It soon became clear that I wasn’t going to be allowed to go anytime soon. However, I wasn’t in a rush. Neither of us were willing to bring up the idea of a bribe (for different reasons). We casually chatted about sports, Canada and the weather. All the while the border guard was [View Full Entry]

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I visited another town today to see a fetish “Animist” traditional spirit tree. Although the town was only 10 KM down the road the people spoke a different dialect, which Simon said he couldn’t understand. It’s a very hot and nice day on the beach. The kids in the village I’m staying in seem to like me (I gave them saluting lessons). They get along well, although they’re both Muslim and Christian. Cute kids. Off to The Gambia tomorrow, hopefully to get some English books! Just finished “Sailing from Byzantium” and only have “The Mi [View Full Entry]

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So these couple days on the beach are turning out quite nicely, as the beach is beautiful and deserted. Plus mango season is on! This means I can have my fill of mangoes, while trying not to get hit by them as they fall from the trees! Babaka’s friend, Simon is very helpful and has shown me all around and introduced me to many of his friends and “family”. I can’t seen to avoid eating five meals a day as everyone is so hospitable. They are also mostly Christians, which means pigs running around and booze sold more readily, although the [View Full Entry]

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