Hotel la Colombe Timbuktu

... on the outskirts of Timbukto. Spent 1hr on camels going back and forth and around 1hr at the village, where we were given mint tea before they showed us their jewellry for us to buy. My guide was called Omar and the camel was called Gerba. Everyone (8 of us) had the biggest grins on our faces whilst on the camels, this is the best activity so far on the trip. Day Five - Back to ...

... In our case its 25 people plus crew. Due to the v**y low riv** levels we need to drive about 50 kilomet**s to meet the Pinnasse.



During the start of the trip I was in a foul mood for a reason that will remain known to myself only and didn't want to talk to anybody, so I put on my headphones and ignored ev**ybody. I think I was just sooooo tired.


The ***** riv** at this time of year is quite low due to the dry season in the ...

... where the desert is at the end of the street. Along with the others, he and his family came to live in Timbuktu after the terrible famines of the 1970's. All the family are artisans, and his wife creates the leatherwork while he works in silver. We sit on the floor in a room in his house , and his son makes Tuareg tea for us on a little stove and there's a dish of meat and bread to share. When we ask where Mohamed Tasak has his ...

... and I just have to hope that no one else is going to get to my money before I do! The next day we w**e in meetings all morning, and I agreed to act as a chap**one in the aft**noon to Freya and h** new friend Bijoux, but on condition that someone would show me wh**e the West**n Union office was and I could collect my money first. I was directed down a narrow sandy street to a scruffy doorway with a West**n Union sign on it. Sand on the ...

... I could look out onto the street and straight into the open doorless entrance of the house opposite where women sat on the floor, stoking charcoal burners and cooking breakfast for the family. One of the teenage girls had what looked like a garden sieve, and she was sifting the sand around the entrance to remove leaves , twigs and rubbish, and then sweeping the sand smooth. Two little goats lept around on the flat roof of the house , and ...

... goat and the display of the guts and the testicles - Sue and Steve fill me in on that! Children are gath**ing around the well, giggling and watching us shyly. The blue-robed schoolmast** appears with his briefcase and gath**s some of his pupils togeth** for a group photo. Then Mohamed AlHare gath**s US up and into the two vehicles to go for a drive in the des**t. We drive out to some scrubby trees and he invites ...

... faces behind the long cloth which also forms a turban. Th**e's a brief stop when we get a flat tyre, and the driv**, Ali , changes it exp**tly on the side of the road - hope we don't get anoth** one! And we slow down for road blocks made of batt**ed oil drums, wh**e our 'pap**s' are checked and maybe some money changes hands.Children outside mud houses along the road wave at us, and we get glimpses of village life. Th**e's v**y little motorised traffic on ...

... blue clothes flap about in lovely sail shapes, then vanished as if he had never existed. I crossed my fingers that my digestive system would hold it together long enough for me to get through the flight without embarrassing myself. I arrived in Mopti without disgracing myself to be met by my next guide Boubacar (or Mackenzie if you wanted his professional football name), who commented on my journey, "Air Mali?? no no, its Air MAYBE, welcome to Mopti"

... Africa. The President of Mali, ATT attended the
inauguration as well as the form** President of SOuth-Africa M'Beki and the President Motlanthe.
We visited its ancient mosque as well as the Grand Mosque in Djenne, the largest mud-brick building
in the world. Both are UNESCO World H**itage sites. Our exp**ience in teh Dogon Land was unique,
once again ...