Hotel Des Roses Mopti

... 8230;maybe. The guide to Dogon Country just happened to have 3 people leaving the next day and we could join them. Since we wanted to do this trek anyway (particularly Tibra who was still stowed in the dark recesses of DH’s backpack) and you need a guide for Dogon Country, combined with the futility of a rational argument in Africa, we agreed to a new plan and made our way back to the hotel (great name for a hotel in Africa-“Ya Pas de Probleme‘).

... of name by the way, not mine. I don't know what his actual name is. Anyway, Coolboy was on my first day in Mopti, just another really annoying guide - I do believe it was him I was hiding from when I escaped into an internet cafe to write the last entry. After he had quite accepted that no I don't have time to go on a Dogon trek, and nah I'll pass on a boat ride with your brother, he was actually really nice. He struts around town with his dreadlocked hair and his ...

... I have never been so warm in my entire life. It was so much cooler outside than inside even, it must have been at least 40 degrees in that bus! And so stuffy and horrible! It was literally like sitting in a sauna. All the locals were clearly sweltering too. They stopped at one point, for roughly twenty minutes, and the driver's assistant boys had to reattach the door because the plastic bit holding it on was melting. Crazy. He was then chatting to me and ...

... swimming and staying out of the burning sun. On the third night in Bamako we set up a spit, bought a (live, but soon to be dead) goat and had the best spit roast goat ev** consumed in Mali (I can say that as i was responsible for the cooking which required about three hours of sitting close-ish to a searingly hot charcoal pit and turning the goat ev**y ten minutes). Luckily all could be accomplished with a be** in hand!! The goat was special, and we ate it to the sound of a ...

... be hauled manually out of the hold and dumped on the hot runway. I'm in Africa! Ev**yone from our flight trying to squeeze into the shade of the tiny passport and immigration room and then out into the bright sunshine of Mopti wh**e a huge crowd waited for us, jostling and calling out, off**ing taxis and souvenirs. Our flight is one of only two to arrive at Mopti Airport each week, and an opportunity for guides and taxi driv**s to ...

... still being unmarried. While I was saying its not that unusual for me (although not ideal), he was saying it was virtually unheard of for him. He had a girlfriend who he was with for several years and he wanted to marry her. Arranged marriages are still common place in Mali, so people that want to marry for love ask their parents for permission. They asked her parents but they said no - Boubacar was NOT ...

... very attentive and made sure I always had some water / tissues / cold flannel on my head and we headed off to the Pays Dogon anyway - I would not do any walking, we'd just go straight to the campment for the night. Halfway there the guys stopped for a pee and a cigarette so I stumbled off to the loo - as there was one handy. Unfortunately we didn't make it any further as my body decided to errupt then and there, in the middle of a courtyard in front of everyone. NICE. It was a ...

... walking ATM's "You're a tourist, you're rich, it's not much money to you, just pay more, what does it matt**?" that attitude is not the point. Aft** having, once again, the local police involved they reluctantly paid the added on 4,000 (US$8) and walked out .<br><br><br><br> Our campsite is just outside Mopti, a place called Sevare, hotel Via Via, which was full of lizards running around the floor and walls... some being multicoloured ...

... plains. 10 for the panorama, 1 for convenience. The one we visited was no longer in use but apparently others still are. Deciding to rid ourselves of day packs some hire an ox to transport theirs to the next village. Hearing we were paying 2,500CFA NZ Mike offers to carry mine in return for soft drink. I of course take him up on the offer and skip away empty handed. We had two birthdays whilst on the trip - Kristy's 32nd on the 22nd and Jamie's ...

... does it matt**?" that attitude is not the point. Aft** having, once again, the local police involved they reluctantly paid the added on 4,000 (US$8) and walked out . Our campsite is just outside Mopti, a place called Sevare, hotel Via Via, which was full of lizards running around the floor and walls... some being multicoloured which we lat** found to be the males. The aft**noon was spent at the campsite restaurant with cold be**s and Muzza ...