Happy New Year from the Dogon Country!!!

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!!!!

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

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.