Christmas in Mali

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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 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 are excellent cooks and wanted to do pizza for the veges instead of pig and goat, I didn't complain, these pizzas were great!) We spent the morning playing a great game of Secret Santa, it took hours with all the stealing that went on. Colin got an emergency toiletries set, all useful stuff, and I got a lovely carved Bao set. We finally found some local kids last night that taught us the basic rules. We didnt do much all afternoon, its a bit hot for running around, apart from getting the veges ready for the fire. My poor hands after scrubbing 60 potatoes!!

While here, we spent some time in Dogon Villages: fascinating buildings, people, culture. Nancy and I took a day tour while the rest did an overnight trip - we were getting over a case of the runs! As well as looking round the villages, climbing up and down the escarpment, we had tea with a local chief. We had some millet 'cream', ground millet boiled with water and tamarind, and some chinese gunpowder tea with more sugar than tea. A neat insight into another way of life.

Yesterday we went to Djenne to look at the mud mosque. That was pretty neat but there isnt a lot else to see in Djenne, just narrow streets with sewerage channels running down the middle and lots of snotty nosed kids chasing you and asking for cadeaux! When did we get so cynical?!

We are hanging out in the Sevare / Mopti area until New Year, then we are off to Burkina Faso.

Have a great New Year everyone, and keep in touch.

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Photos

Karen cooking 60 jacket potatoes
for Christmas dinner