Gwrath au Sahara

Now With Pics!

2010-01-21T20:54:00.000-08:00

~ Gwrath au Sahara illustrated at last!

Scroll down regularly

and thoroughly!

New Year's Full Dogon Moon!!

2010-01-21T20:34:00.000-08:00

Creeping out from behind the Falaise. The ceaseless, breathtaking spotlight of a long night filled with wind and sand and wind and sand and donkeys' long-distant lovestruck cries. All gives way at last to the hypnotizing intrusion of hours of regular cockerel calls.. and the sweet dark unknown of deep sleep.

Yet another perspective

2010-01-21T20:08:00.001-08:00

M. poles us calmly through the shallows, determined but at ease, into another windy morning and a day full of stunning emptiness.

So full.

Notre pinasse!

2010-01-21T19:14:00.000-08:00

Pinasse just before dawn with M. & Y.... a beautiful day just beginning... pointing unknowing towards the frostiest beers in Mali and a sunset jam in the courtyard of the recently late Ali Farka Touré, whose son we would soon hear in the dunes as part of an all-night tribute to the master of West African blues.

Niger River and Timbuctu

2010-01-06T13:31:00.000-08:00

I'm in Timbuctu now! I made it!!!! The boat ride was fantastic - just what the doctor (I guess that was you!) ordered! I did it with a great couple of couple guys - one Irish and the other Belgian and that was it, just the three of us and a couple of locals running the motor, bailing the water and making our basic, but tasty meals! The scenery was beautiful, the stars were in the billions (we camped at night), and I rested and caught up on my journal and had a good think about what I want to do in my final week. The Belgian guy brought a bottle of Pastisse, which we polished off until the wee hours last night under the quarter moon but which we started off the night before toasting a friend from Rustlers who, I just heard, died in a car accident. I think I sent him off ok.

The Festival starts tomorrow! I'll try to email again tomorrow before I head to the desert.

R.I.P. Master Peter Jones - we miss you!

http://architectafrica.com/Peter-Jones

To the Niger! To water!

2010-01-04T02:14:00.000-08:00

Dogon Country was quite amazing - super hot and dry, walking for hours each day, visiting Dogon villages that were often situated just below the old Tellem cliff dwellings, which were made from termite mound dirt mixed with water and then moulded into the cliffsides quite high up and somewhat invisble for being almost the same colour as the cliffs themselves. I have a new Dogon name that means loved by the gods, though I can't remember it right now.

Am moving fast - again no Internet for 2-3 days.

Of course, this is Africa and my 9am boat will not leave until at least 10:30.

Heading to Timbuctu (Tombouctou) for the festival. First, three days or so on the Niger River to get there and then, after three days of craziness and music, a 4x4 back to Sevare near to this town (Mopti).

Miss you guys. Feeling a little scared and challenged here from time to time. Facing my demons, I guess, and quite out of my comfort zone (am I just rusty or have I changed?). Managing to stay quite healthy (tuching wood), though the dust is murder on my throat and lungs and I have not slept well for a different reason each night. That makes it hard to be easy going. Hopefully, these three days or so on the river will be restful.

This boat ride should be great - a small pinasse (covered low dugout type boat with mattresses, a motor, a rudimentary kitchen and very rudimentary toilet and that's about it: http://homepage.mac.com/melissaenderle/mali/pages/timbuktutravel.html). Will camp on the shore each evening, maybe visit some villages along the way and be in Tombouctou in a few days.

I hope to email again in three days! I should go.

le g.

Happy New Year from the Dogon Country!!!

2009-12-31T16:56:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!!!!!!!
I guess I'm a romantic or nostalgic or a softy or something, but: I love you all so much and I'm missing you tonnes!!! I wish we were celebrating together - but here, not where you are!
It just happened here (Bandiagara) with drums and dancing and scooters and dust and drinking and haggling over trekking prices. This is gonna be a fantastic year!!!
As expected/hoped for, I'm having a great time, though I've struggled with an apparent allergy to the antimalarial meds I'm taking and I have more or less lost my voice!! (Yes, I know: why does it never happen when you guys are around to appreciate it?). The crazy dry, dusty, polluted air here sure doesn't help, either!

I also just barely missed New Year's because a travelling friend I met in Bamako (Femke, a woman from Holland) and I were haggling over prices for three days of trekking in the Dogon Country tomorrow!! It's gonna be so good! We saw an amazing set of Dogon dances, including with phenomenal masks today. I'll try to load some shots now, but it may not work. If zou don't see them, it was either Mali's technological difficulties or mine!

Otherwise the trip has, thus far, been a lot about getting on my feet physically and as a traveler and seeking, waiting for and sittin' on loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong bus rides.

With all the scramblings to get out of this town or that before the last bus leaves, I've also struggled to update this blog, but I'll keep at it.

Here's the possible itinerary now: Dogon country (completely inaccessible for communication) until Sunday afternoon, then probably Mopti and either heading for Timbuktu for the Festival (which they've moved closer to Timbuktu 'cuz of "issues" with Tuareg nomad nogood troublmakers, or freedom fighters, or bandits, or heroes, or... well, you get the picture (at least that one, if not any of mine!)) or possibly going to Djenne first. If not the latter, then I'll go to Djenne after the Festival on my way to Bamako for my flight home on the 15th. If I can, I'll go to the tropical Sikasso on the 13th or 14th - crap, what a difference that will make from the hot and dry dust-filled, dusty dust that I live in now!

Sorry folks, photos later. Gotta sleep!!

le g.

Bamako!... at last!!!!

2009-12-28T12:47:00.000-08:00

Hey All!

I've made it... so far. Wow, the combination of being rusty at traveling/Africa and being exhausted (after five hours in delayed flights, including the Paris-Bamako one in which we had to return to the terminal to remove an unruly passenger!) has made this first day a challenging one. However, I'm definitely still in the game!

It's really hot and dusty here - with people EVERYWHERE selling EVERYTHING you can imagine! Many who catch your eye, or vice versa, will ask you how you are (though I'm already starting to beat them to the punch!). Many of those, though, have a shop with some wares they want you to see and they can be a little difficult to shake.

One friendly gentleman had me following him deep into a maze market and, as I began to get a bit of a bad feeling (also realizing how easily I would lose my sense of direction) I decided it was time to lose him, despite how cool the market was. I had already told him I was trying to go elsewhere from where I understood he was leading me, so I just had to follow my gut on that one.

The hotel is nice enough (actually, it's a tranquil oasis where I've already met so,e nice folks - travelers and locals alike) and I'm getting by on my French, but just barely... and, of course, I speak no Bamana, the local language in these parts. I'm really just trying to get my bearings and get/land on my feet (especially after it taking about 31 hours to get to the airport here and then probably another two hours before I got to the hotel).

Taking out money by VISA seems pretty easy so far. Hopefully that and good Internet connections will continue throughout the trip.

So I am gonna try to get outta the hustle and bustle of town tomorrow and head to Ségou. After that, probably Djenne and then on to Mopti to set up a trek into the Dogon country. From, there I should head straight to Timbuktu for the Festival and then maybe a bit down the Niger River back to Mopti for a flight or a bus back to Bamako. Of course, all may change and I'll do my best to keep y'all updated.

Sooner or later,
love
g.

Day 1... sort of

2009-12-26T12:42:00.000-08:00

Salut a tous!! (I have to start practising my French!)

Here I am stuck at SeaTac airport where my 5-hour wait has turned into an 8-hour wait and threatens to scuttle my mini-visit to Paris. Tant pis pour moi... et Paris!

Now I'm off for a beer to take stock, start reading about Mali and begin livin' the dream!

Already wish I'd brought less stuff - story of my life!

Later Fans!

le g.