The wet season in West Africa continues… In the more northern countries such as Niger and Mali, the downpours are shorter, but greater in strength and come with with crazy storms. You can see them coming from miles away because of the sand they kick up. An imposing sight! We were treated to a few of these while still in Niamey. The roads instantly turned into rivers and any kind of travel was virtually impossible. In that situation you can’t do anything but grab a beer and wait it out

The ride from Niamey along the Niger river to Gao (in Mali) was uneventful (boring actually). The road is tarred all the way and the scenery changes very little from flat, scrub covered Saharan sand. Visibility is also bad due to the constant dust/haze. A few hours of this and you can get a sense of what it must be like on Mars. There is virtually no traffic and it’s very desolate… The feeling of solitude is not helped by reports that Al Qaeda occupies areas just to the north (especially around Timbouctou). It makes bush camping a nervous experience…

From Hombori the landscape changed dramatically. Huge rock formations, some with 600m vertical walls, literally grew out of the ground as we made our way onto the Dogon Plateau. Home to the Dogon people, who live in small villages on the southern escarpment of the plateau, this is Mali’s main tourist attraction. We hadn’t seen so many tourists since Namibia! No surprise then that our impressions of Dogon Country were not the best. There were touts and guides everywhere. The villagers themselves were also out for the tourist dollar and any mention of a photo was followed by a demand for money. Sad but understandable, given the number of tourists that visit the area every year.

In general, we have seen a lot more begging and touting since leaving Chad. Everywhere we go people try to get our attention by making “psst, psst” sounds followed by either an offer to buy their goods or simply a demand for a “cadeau” - literally meaning ‘gift’. In their eyes we are white and rich because we have been blessed by God and it’s our obligation to spread some of this wealth… An interesting way of looking at things, but they seem to forget that WE’RE the guests in THEIR country.

We’ve also seen the introduction of what we like to call “bucketeers”. Small kids that walk around town and beg for food. They hang out at roadside cafe’s, looking over your shoulder as you eat, waiting for leftovers. It takes getting used to and can get really annoying. Apparently the government has banned this king of begging but it’s inevitable given that some families can have up to fourteen children, the parents not able to provide food for all.

We were really besieged by bucketeers in Djenne. A town listed as a World Heritage Site because it has the world’s largest mud mosque. It also has a lively market on Monday which takes over the area in front of the mosque. Not a bad sight…

In Djenne we slept on the roof of a restaurant/hotel. In the heat of northern Mali it really is the best option…

From Mali it was a quick border crossing over to a more civilized Burkina Faso. The country’s name literally meaning land of ‘honest’ or ‘not corruptible’ men. Hmmm… we suppose it’s all a matter of perspective and although the people are a lot friendlier they don’t seem that honest to us (more on that later)

On a good road we made quick time to Ouagadougou (pronounced ‘wagadugu’). It’s the capital of Burkina Faso and probably the coolest sounding capital city with a laid back atmosphere to match. It even has a supermarket where you can pay using Visa!! We only stayed long enough to get visas for Ghana and indulge in a burger or two, before heading north to the area around Gorom Gorom. This is where the Fulani people (nomads of Africa) roam the land with their cattle. They’re a colorful bunch and we saw many of them during our ‘tour de markets’ in the villages around Gorom Gorom. The coolest being in Deou.

Priceless local GPS…

While touring the area we bush camp wherever possible. One night we had a rude awakening when a fierce storm passed through the area. For the first 2 hours we sat against one side of the tent propping up the poles so that we don’t get blown away. This was followed by a torrential downpour which saw us sitting in a pool of water, frogs swimming past our tent. Tired and wet we re-pitched the tent on higher ground and went to sleep, before being woken up again by a heard of goats that decided to graze beside us! Not all ‘nights under the stars’ are romantic

Just before Burkina Faso’s border with Togo, we got a chance to see just how ‘honest’ its police force is. We got pulled over for failing to stop at an intersection. In the context of African traffic and that particular busy intersection, it was a trap if ever we saw one! The only honest thing they did was write out an official receipt for US$24!! To rub salt into our wounds, we got a flat in the middle of town and had about fifty people watch us change it. Not the farewell from Burkina that we were hoping for.

These kids made up for it though…

Thankfully formalities at the border were a breeze and we got to laugh about our troubles with a couple of Belgian guys we met, riding around west africa on their Chinese made motorcycles. Now that’s adventurous!