Hotel Mande Bamako

... from EVERYONE daily, the commitment to family and friendships throughout the country, the happy spirited welcomes we appreciated, the sharing of food with family, the smiles, the shaking of hands as people said 'Obama' and 'Sava' when asked wh**e we w**e from but didn't speak the same language. All of these exp**iences and more warmed our hearts and made us love our friends in Mali and each day in the 2 weeks we spent touring the country.

A quick run down of the clips ...

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The French not only left Bamako their language but also blessed the city with the art of baking! The number of rottiseries, pattiseries and boulangeries is jaw-dropping and you can see a number of informal bread making businesses around every corner. It also means that you simply cannot find a loaf of sliced bread in Bamako. Believe me, I tried. French bread styled rolls are the way to go. 

And then there are the taxis. Machines in Mali are doomed ...

... speed through Bamako. It was 9pm and people lined the streets, sitting outdoors, chatting, food stalls were doing business and children continued to play noisily even though it was well past their bed time. I wondered why everyone was outdoors and as soon as we arrived at Jatigiya Lodge I understood why. The heat was oppressive and being indoors was almost unbearable. It is the reason why Bamako comes alive every night! 

Our hosts at ...

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We then drove to Bandiagara to commence a 3-day trek through Dogon Country. This region is famed for its traditions, which have changed little ov** the centuries of living in the massive gorge in which plains are surrounded by dramatic cliffs and rocky outcrops. Centuries ago, their ancestors lived in caves high above the current villages, which still raises debate as to their ancestors ability to reach their homes in the cliff faces. The 40 degree was ...

... optimistic for Africa!! It took the whole day for the visas to be issued (and that was only after we "helped" speed up the process - otherwise we would have had to wait for 36 hours). This meant that poor Nats had to spend her birthday in Bamako, travelling from Taxi to taxi to fetch visas, fetch bus tickets etc. I promised to make it up to her later in the journey! We finally left Bamako on 6 January. Direction le pays Dogon...

... display of assorted flake pastry savoury delights, profit**oles, chocolate éclairs, cheesecakes, raspb**ry tarts, vanilla slices and num**ous oth** delicacies. It really was torture! Climbing back on board Nala we followed sketchy directions to the campsite going on a tour of the city in the process, seeing a lot of expats driving around in fancy 4x4's. How Jay and Kate ev** find wh**e we're staying I have no idea but they always do. Leaving the main ...

... the girls got the more comfy baggy clothes. Whilst all this was going on Oliver was sitting around the campfire playing guitar and making up songs about people. Most entertaining and everyone was thrilled for him to finally be playing the guitar. I ended up sneaking off to bed around 11.30 and I think the rest followed a few hours later. Hmmm I wonder how many hangovers there will be in the morning and if the banchee cries are repeated.....

... LE gars. Il m'a grave dépanné d'un problème que m'aurait fait perdre une centaine de photos : l'ordinateur que j'ai utilisé pour écrire la première vingtaine de posts est tombé définitivement en panne et je n'avais pas fait la sauvegarde de certains de mes fichiers sur la clé usb que je contais « piquer » à Baby. En cherchant du secours je suis tombé sur ce monsieur là, un informaticien qui en dépit de son métier, de son gain-pain a décidé de me aider et non content de ce ...

... mas isso ja não é nada que ainda nos possa surpreender. Aqui as condições criadas por todos e evitadas por ninguém ja sairam victoriosas , mataram a resistência ,esgotaram a restia de força animica que teimava em residir nas nossas almas, até aquela simples reflectida no esboçar de um gesto para afastar a puta das moscas de cima da nossa linda descendência. Vilma sei que vais adorar esta criança.

... you, we couldn't see what chaos our departure left behind...).  At Dakar station we bumped into two American guys who had crossed the Moroccan-Mauritanian border with David and Glen, who we travelled with in Mauritania. This part of the world is a small place for backpackers. We got chatting, and ended up in adjacent cabins. We'd all agreed that 51,000CFA (about GBP50) for a couchette was a bit steep, so we'd opted for the 1ere class in the hope it would ...