The festival and homeward bound

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Hi Folks,

What Kevin forgot to mention last night is that I am being treated for Malaria and not dying, really! Thanks for all the love and support. I generally feel a bit better in the morning, and I think maybe the drugs are working (fingers crossed) so I'm up now writing in a slightly dizzy going-back-to-bed-soon state. Kevin and others here at the Djembe Hotel are taking fabulous care of me.

Despite fraility of body, the trip up to the desert and back was an incredible experience. The Tuereg people are so so beautiful, in dress, in music, in culture. The highlight of the festival really was watching small circles of traditional Tuereg music and dance while the sun set over the sand dunes, it literally brings tears to my eyes to think about how fortunate we are to have witnessed that culture. Those folks are so admirable, living out in the desert, navigating by the stars, digging incredibly deep wells, meeting other caravans for trade way out in the sahara many days camel ride from anything. The dunes that we could see in the distance were a couple of thousand meters tall, and as a Tuereg friend told us, just the beginning of the "real" desert. Our camp was great too. The internet ticketing FYI assigns folks to random camps, so we were separated from our friends. Our camp had excellent food and very friendly french volunteers, though not all had the same. We also had a lovely friendly goat, who enjoyed a couple of days of pampering by westerners before turning into a very tastey roast.

The trek back to Bamako was long and harsh with a fever. We left our friends Jack, Sharon, Orion, and Jesse up in Timbuoctou, barged across the river with new exhausted travel mates from the festival, and slept (or tried) the whold 10 hours of nasty nasty off road and dirt road and sand pit ride back to Mopti. A very yucky night for me there, but Kevin had fun playing drums in the hotel bar for a bit, nice place that sometimes has hot water (but not when we were there) Y Ne Pas De Problem Hotel (FYI we also enjoyed Hotel des Roses on the way up and would really recommend the owners Terry and Rose).

The next day we visited the ancient city of Djenne with its famous mud mosque. It was a quiet and peaceful day of little driving. Then back here. Ucky head is coming back, so I'm bound back to bed. I'll post some pictures though. Love to all. We're headed to the airport late tonight, then home to our plush cushy world.

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Photos

Nous aimons les chamuex
We love camels, the are super cool. The sound that they make was recorded and used for the wookies in Star Wars, very magical when there are several outside of your tent in the morning!

Our tent
We were fortunate to share a tent with Stephan, the most helpful and sweet french guy imaginable! Very talented at dealing with the gendarme, and the folks that try to say you didn't pay enough for the camp.

Kevin and Jack....Nomads...
Turbins are not really a fashion statement, so much as a survival mechanism for both heat and cold.

Camel give you a balcony seat
At traditional music circles (the best!!) the women circled around, then men stood, then others watched from camel back. I was offered a camel seat by a friendly Tuereg, which was such a treat! His friends got a big kick out of it as well.