more news from the bagged yoghurt tour...

Yippeee! I felt that title was fairly apprpriate seeing as I have just tasted the superior delight of Bon Glacier's yoghurt in Bobo Diouloasso. After a week or two of not writing I am fairly certain this is not the only news desired, but I had to start off with that because I cannot stop thinking about it. Especially while sitting here in this rather warm cyber spot, the thought of something cold is quite enticing. Well, onto a bit better storytelling....
Luke and I have been getting quite a good taste of West African transport. From Djenne we headed out to Dogon Country in Mali. We spent our first night under heavy clouds of a warm West African thunderstorm in a village built atop a cliffside. I would love to share some photos because these words cannot truly describe, but the computer will not let me. After two nights in the small villages of Dogon country, Luke and I got motorcycle rides_ wearing our huge packs on our backs_ to the town of Bankass. Our trusty guide Madou waited with us for about 6 hours until we were able to grab a bus ride to Koro. The best part of waiting the 6 hours was that my dehydration caught up with me, I almost blacked out, and then on the bus ride I threw up out the window several times! A good start to our what_turned_out_to_be 48 hour trip to St Jeanne in Burkina Faso. Arriving in St. Jeanne felt like a warm bed with clean sheets on a cold winter's night, except it was like 40 centigrade and the sheets weren't clean, but it was amazing. We were fed right upon arrival and Luke tucked me safely into my mosquito net as  I drifted off to sleep. I awoke a little bit later that evening to sounds of Luke throwing up. It turns out we both got to get sick. Well, at least this time we were sitting still for a good moment and Luke took a day to heal. The village of St. Jeanne deserves quite a bit of describing. It is an ecovillage in its infancy. It's sister village is Aurovillage in India, Emma sound good? We spent a beautiful few days here, went a bit crazy from the isolation and made it to Bobo yesterday. The cyber time is about to run out and I would at least like to have sent out these few words so I will have to finish later. Sending you all our love.

On Big City, and Escaping It. Also: Arboriculture & A Snazzy New 'Do

First off, your correspondent must make the obligatory apology for the quality and length of this post, as we are once again faced with an atrocious keyboard situation that requires much diligence to avoid slipping into ;qssive ;isco;prehension> etc...

So again we'll let the pictures do most of the talking. The narrative is, grosso modo, that we arrived A-OK in Bamako, where we were hosted by lovely and generous Diane family (M. and Mme. and baby Fatim aka Tim Tim aka Fatim WADABAAA (lion in Bambara). HOo boy this is ruff typing i am going to start to abridge...we wandered tuff streets of bko, i got a dope haircut (called "the balotelli" [sic]) and then made our way north to historic Djenne, where we are now staying with a buddy Hamma that i met 6yrs ago traveling here, he has since started awesome Hotel Des Amis (just outside town on edge of Bani River) with with fab garden and 2 swell dogs Tarzan and Bob, we helped him plant trees today (the baoba sapling in photo will carry my name) and also walked around Bani. C and I are halfzqy thru trip, tmrw we go to Dogon territor then straight into Burkina so no internet for a while. Salaam and talk to yalls later.

Miscellanea...: Hippos on Holiday - Billy Collins

Quite Perfect...

Miscellanea...: Hippos on Holiday - Billy Collins

is not really t...: "Hippos on Holiday - Billy Collins is not really the title of a movie but if it was I would be sure to see it. I love their short legs a..."

bamako bound

Well not quite bound anymore as we have already made it, but I liked the alliteration. Luke and I made it into Bamako yesterday. We have been welcomed into the friend of someone Luke knows from work at Rights and Resources. Upon arriving at the Bamako airport we were well impressed with Malian hospitality; luke and i have been sharing a room with our own bathroom and full beds and a fan and three meals a day... c'est la luxe quoi. We are headed out towards Djenné tomorrow and then Dogon country. By Sunday we should be headed for Burkina Faso. Might be out of contact for a while and I have no way to upload photos at the moment, so until next time! Many stories of course, but should be told with more time. sending love to you all!

dakarois time

goat stroll on the beach

sow is sooo good. bagged yogurt! as if bagged milk wasn't enough...

mafe cookin'

lego king on mermoz beach

apres swimming at mermoz beach

really important news from Ghana. 

path down to a most excellent beach...

Mamelle beach

youssef, abubakar, and luke

soooooooo good. sooo much food. chebuwex a la nabu

thank you Moussa Samb!

On The Dakarois Vibe These Days

Asalaamwaalekum y'all, greetings from a rather warm Dakar, high 80s, little wind, clouds were tantalizingly threatening with rain this morning, but nothing but clear skies and sun all day.  Now it's evening time and blessedly cool, the best time for doing ones laundry (especially since water pressure problems means that the taps don't work until late at night, so we stock up each night in 5 10L jugs.

Celeste and I have been up to a lot at times, trying to deliver presents and spend time with as many old friends as possible and fetching visas for Burkina and Mali (props to the lovely lady at the BF embassy who accepted us even though it was after the noon closure of office on Friday, and turned our visas and passports over in an hour...they weren't cheap, but they are multiple entry and valid for 5 years, so holler if you're looking for a traveling companion to Burkina sometime before 2016!), and at other times it feels like the time runs by so so fast even though we're not up to much.  Here's a few highlights:

1. Siccck painting on tree at UCAD of Cheikh Ibrahim Fall ("Lamp Fall"), the inspiration of the Baye Fall sect of the Mouride Muslim order (see those wiki links and that of Serigne Touba for more info on the off chance that that sentence made absolutely no sense.) The writing in French says "The cult of work."

 

 2. The current sorry state of the "Gare" (train station) downtown. In 2005 when Lily D. and Katie S. and I went to Mali, our trip started with a crazy busy queue for tickets in here (and if I remember correctly, a brief but inexplicable closed interrogation of Katie.)  Now, the Senegalese section of the train is closed for repairs, weeds are growing over the rails, and it seems that a family is squatting in the building. Also, road construction on the back side has transplanted the Malian Market to the streets around the Gare, still apparently going strong despite that lack of trains arriving with good from Mali. just one example of many many changes in Dakar since I last visited.

3. Daara J (now "Daara J Family," since Alhadj Mann has since split with Ndongo D and Faada Freddy (with the dreads), two of the grandfathers of Senegalese hip-hop, live in concert at Centre Culturel Francais. The guys were way cool as usual, but due to some BS rule instigated by CCF, the concert ended exactly at 23h00 -- in mid-song! Before they got to play Bop Sa Bopp! Unbelievable. Still, even that disappointment didn't ruin the fantastic music. I have a few videos too, but given current internet connection, it would take four hours to upload a 1m30 clip.

4. Lastly, these groovy Hal Pulaar guys passed by our balcony...Ajara maaaaa!

5. Tonight, Celeste and I (hopefully Fons and Tico too) are heading downtown again to the self-proclaimed "big party en plein air pour faire danser tout Dakar", the inimitable Koul Graoul dance party at the Oceanarium. Such good luck to be here for the first Saturday of the month to catch this groovy event!  Kaay nu dem fecc waay!  Until next time...