Dan H: the world traveling saxophone holder: 10 Month African Trails Epic Adventure: Weeks 7-8

Mali, Burkina Faso

Week 7 - Dec. 23rd - 29th

Day 43 - Sevare to Bandiagara
Day 44 - Christmas Eve in Bandiagara
Day 45 - Christmas Day in Bandiagara
Day 46 - Dogon hike day 1 - Kanikombole to Baniamatu
Day 47 - Dogon hike day 2 - Baniamatu to Nombori
Day 48 - Dogon hike day 3 - Nombori to Ireli
Day 49 - Dogon hike day 4 - Ireli to end of hike

Week 8 - Dec. 30th - Jan. 5th

Day 50 - Day in Bandiagara
Day 51 - Bandiagara to border (New Years Eve!)
Day 52 - Mali/Burkina Faso border to bush-camp
Day 53 - bush-camp to Ouagadougou
Day 54 - day in Ouagadougou
Day 55 - day in Ouagadougou
Day 56 - day in Ouagadougou

We've been traveling together for almost two months now so it should be pretty fair to say that we're getting to know each other rather well. OK so admittedly we don't know each other's deepest darkest secrets (yet!) but we're starting to build up a rough idea of the kind of personalities each other person possesses. To give a few examples: Mayumi, much to our delight, is pathologically incapable of being anything other than cheerful and optimistic, Greg enjoys flatulence and eructation and the act of evaluating his sphinctral and oral gaseous expulsions for pungency and fragrance (in layman's terms: he likes farting/burping and boasting about it!). Kev appears to be a complainer but actually isn't, it's just part of his sense of humour and his way of dealing with things. He also possesses an chronic inability to shake off the hawkers that often swarm us, trying to impose their cheap worthless wares upon us. He hasn't yet worked out that the reason they won't leave him alone is that his responses are too syllable intensive to successfully shake them off. For example: when you reply to a salesman with 'no I don't bloody want your cheap worthless crap, it's completely useless to me!' it sounds to the non English speaker as 'blah bluh blabla blah blah BLAH blah bleeb blog blaaah!' and therefore takes on the intonations and inflections of a conversation. The correct response is to smile politely and then wave them off with a dismissive and succinct 'non merci', it really does work almost every time.

Sarah is adored by the locals wherever she goes, she's already had several marriage proposals from each country we visit. Aussie Sean makes frequent comments that, if taken at face value instead of their intended joking, teasing nature, would gratuitously insult most people, much to the consternation of some of our group who haven't always been able to realise that he actually was joking. I was also delighted to find out that Chris (as in 'Chris and Lucy Chris' not 'northern Chris', we actually have an astonishing five duplicate names and we're picking up a sixth later: Hisashi no. 2!) is (or was) a saxophone and clarinet player so I was actually able to engage in a conversation about reed strength, mouthpiece size and tip opening without him wanting to blow his own brains out with boredom! Jeremy is a walking encyclopedia of information, so much so that when many of the group find that there is a question they don't know the answer to they have often been able to turn round and ask him about it. I mean the guy even provided me with a concise explanation (if such a thing is even possible) of Schrödinger's cat and the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics during one conversation. I mean come on, be honest, how often have you been having a normal everyday chit-chat that has been cut short because nobody present was able to grasp the concept that a cat can be alive and dead at the same time and that literally anything at all in the universe it possible, just merely improbable.

Wait, did I get that one right? Where am I? OK back to Planet Earth. Quantum mechanics and the nature of the universe aside, it was still in fact quite a spiritual time for the African Trails crew over the last fortnight. Or if not a spiritual period then at least one with excessive amounts of merriment, drunkenness and light hearted debauchery. Actually it's like that all the time for most of us but I'm simply trying to point our that we celebrated Christmas during week seven, and New Years Day in week eight.

Warmest Christmas Yet!

After departing Sevare we shortly found ourselves in a campsite just outside the small town of Bandiagara. It was a good spot to spend Christmas and best of all the other Oasis truck was there, now we had two overland trucks together to celebrate the festivities! Many of the group, including myself, decided to treat ourselves to a little Christmas present by upgrading to our own single rooms complete with a big comfy bed, personal shower and toilet and, best of all, a ceiling fan. The next day it was Christmas Eve and there were drinks-a-plenty to be had by all, well almost all, we do have some remarkably sensible people on board the trip with us who don't drink! On Christmas day we were determined not to let the considerable distance between us and our home countries put a dampener on our celebrations. Presents were exchanged by many of the group but the highlight of the day was the spectacular Christmas Dinner prepared by Phil, Kev and Jeremy. Never mind turkey, we got ourselves an entire pig. It was picked out and butchered before being delivered to the cook team for a lengthy cooking session, complete with gravy, roast vegetables and plenty of other accompaniments. Chris and Lucy also prepared a Christmas Cake, something which although lost on the non-Brits, would be sorely missed by myself if it wasn't available.

Come boxing day it was time for a hike. A rather long 4 day hike across what was known as Dogon Country. The Dogon people, who only make up a paltry 7% of the people of Mali, all inhabit the area known as the Bandiagara Escarpment (or Falaise de Bandiagara), a massive cliff face that stretches 150 kilometres across the Sahel Desert. The Dogon people live in a large number of tiny little villages that cover much of the escarpment. Some of the buildings are actually located on the escarpment itself, halfway up the cliff face in a stunning vertigo inducing location where all but the most hardcore of rock-climbers would balk at the thought of approaching. We set off from Bandiagara and were driven along to the start of the hike, a village called Kanikombole, along with our helpful guide known as 'Speedy'. Speedy had already guided us around Mopti and had arranged the Niger River boat trip and had therefore proven himself so we were glad to have him along.

We started our hike and were off alongside the massive cliff face of the Bandiagara Escarment. Several times throughout the first day we came across many of the small villages that were strewn across the land. Every time we reached a village the local children would swarm around us to greet us. Some of them wanted to sell us things but most of them just wanted to say hi to us. One of the villages we visited was located halfway up the cliff-face itself and, after a trying climb in the heat of day, we were able to explore it. It was a fascinating sight, though I still can't imagine what would possess a group of people to build a village in such a dangerous and unreachable location. I later found out that it was for defense purposes, after all what invaders are going to successfully attack a town that's located halfway up a sheer rock face?! We explored the precipitously located village and, after several people were attacked by angry bees, we descended back to ground level for lunch. Later on some of our group opted for a donkey-cart ride to the next village whilst the more robust of us climbed up the cliff face once again where we were treated to some truly amazing views from the top before we finally reached the high village of Baniamatu.

We spent the night at the village and enjoyed several cold beers and some good food courtesy of our Dogon hosts. We slept on the roof of the mud huts, enjoying the cooling effect of the nighttime breeze. By this time the weather was so hot that a person could even overheat at night so sleeping outside was a welcome break at this point. The next morning we continued on through yet more extraordinarily beautiful scenery, stopping for lunch once again and then heading on. We eventually reached the small village of Nombori where we spent the night once again on the roofs of the mud huts. On day three of the hike we were treated to a wonderful masked dance display in one of the villages. Masks are apparently very important to the Dogon People and their religious ceremonies. Some are performed at funerals, others are performed extremely rarely (in one case every 60 years) and some are performed more regularly. Although I suspect that the dance we were treated to didn't serve any purpose other than to entertain tourists, it was still highly entertaining to watch. After witnessing the dance our group split up into those who were ending the trip on the third day and those who were continuing on for a fourth day. Tagging along with the four-day-ers we made our way to the village of Ireli where many more cold beers were consumed.

On the last day we finished our hike and returned to Bandiagara to be reunited with the rest of our team. After another lazy day in the campsite we departed on New Year's Eve (day 51) for the border between Mali and Burkina Faso. After checking out of the country we once again found ourselves spending the night in no-man's-land between countries, only this time it was New Year and therefore time for a party! And how many people can say that they've spent New Year's Eve in no country at all whatsoever? I'm sure it would come as no surprise to anyone to say that we consumed quite copious quantities of alcohol that night and I even, apparently, engaged in the act of dancing once again, though I didn't remember it at all and only found out due to photographic evidence, what a night!

Ouagadougou: Such fun to pronounce! And go out for a drink on Saturday night!

After checking in to Burkina Faso we soon found ourselves in the capital with the wonderfully exotic name of Ougadougou. We reached a place called the OK Inn, a luxurious hotel complete with a great restaurant and a swimming pool. We were allowed to camp in the grounds outside as long as we spent money in the bar and the restaurant, not a bad deal as far as I was concerned! We spent several days at the OK Inn and were given a good opportunity to get to know Ougadougou. On the first night, a Saturday, six of us went out to find a nightclub to get drunk in. Me, Phil, Sarah, Gav (PS2), Mayumi and Pete (Toms) were the party animals of the evening while the others stayed behind at the OK Inn. Our first choice turned out to be a rather uninspiring shit-hole but after a short walk we found ourselves in a truly wonderful place that was swarming with locals, good cheer and music that was loud enough to dance too without being loud enough to make your eardrums bleed. Once again I found myself inexplicably dancing. I really think that Africa is having some kind of effect on me. There is no way I would have been prepared to dance around like a twat before I came here, yet here I was flailing my limbs around and gyrating my hips like an epileptic who coincidentally had a fit at the same time somebody doused him in petrol and threw a lit match at him. Only in Africa!

We finally returned to the OK Inn early in the morning, making so much noise that most of our fellow travelers were woken up. I should point out that I didn't so much as make a single sound but my fellow drunks were quite loud in their inebriated rantings. Phil tried to find his tent but inadvertently tried to climb into Chris and Lucy's. After being chased off he finally collapsed inside the truck and spent the night there instead. Over the next few days we didn't do much other than lounge around the swimming pool, drinking beers and enjoying the delicious restaurant food. Other than a brief venture out into the town centre we were mostly content to live out this indolent lifestyle for a few days before it was time to move on. Aah, this is the life!