After a long haul through the hot and dry semi-arrid/desert climates of Morocco, Mauritania, Northern Senegal, Mali and Burkina Faso, the humidity and greenery of Ghana have been a welcome change of scenery. Our first night in Ghana we bush camped in a field near the Burkina Faso border and had a very interesting experience. The population density is so high over here there is no possibility of finding a bush camp away from local people. Soon after we arrived we were surrounded by teenagers who's father owned the land we planned to camp on. They were very friendly at first, but later on after many people had gone to bed they decided to demand money for letting us stay there. It would have been fine at that - many people have been demanding our money ... read more

Following Timbuktu we made the drive back to Sevare (near Mopti) with the repaired truck along the same road responsible for the damage (there is only one road to Timbuktu). We made it without any major consequences this time. From Sevare we drove to the village of Bandiagara and onwards to the village where we left the truck once again to start our 3 day trek through Dogon country. To quote Wikipedia: "The Dogon are a group of people living in the central plateau region of Mali, south of the Niger bend near the city of Bandiagara in the Mopti region. They number just under 800,000. The Dogon are best known for their mythology, their mask dances, wooden sculpture and their architecture." Their villages are built into the Bandiagara Escarpement and the live very much the ... read more

At Mopti we said goodbye to the truck for 3 days and boarded our pirogue which would take us up the Niger towards Timbuktu. If all goes well, the truck should be there to meet us on the other side. Lonely Planet suggests 4-5 days for this trip and we planned to do it in 3 which means long days crowded on a boat barely big enough to fit all 26 people. The only space saver was that up to 5 people could sit on the roof which allowed the people down below to stretch out a bit. Our crew consisted of our guide, a boat driver, a cook, and a bailer. We still laugh at the idea that it's cheaper to hire someone to bail water out of the boat than it is to try ... read more

On the way to Bamako, we passed through a morning farmers market, so we decided to stop and take a quick look around. It was so much fun to watch and look at all the food and vegtables they were selling. ... read more

Another long driving day heading to Bamako...to break up the driving, Dave, the trip leader, stopped on the road beside a village, and was going to go ask the 'Chief' if we could wander the village and take photos in exchange for a 'gift'. They were thrilled and a formal ceremony was held to introduce us (every one on the truck who wished to visit the village) to the Chief and the people of the village. Then we were free to wander around and take photos. The kids were so excited when we took their photo and showed it to them on the back of the camera. It was awesome, we ended up taking over 100 photos of the village and the people, here are some of the best ones.... read more