tirsdag, december 18, 2007

Merry Chistmas!

A heartfelt and sincere greeting to all readers of my blog - whoever you are!

I hope the holidays will bring you piece and happiness with the ones you love.

Thought this smiling face was good to enhance the Christmas spirit in us all :)




All the best from
Rejsenegeren!
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søndag, november 25, 2007

Perspektiv...


Perspektiv... Det eneste jeg ser, hernede. Alt skal ses i perspektiv.

Jeg ser Moussa – tjeneren på mit yndlingsværtshus. Stedet, hvor man drikker sine pilsnere, forudsat man har kassen i orden. Stedet, hvor de rige, de udbyttende, de beregnende – men også de venlige, de behagelige og de positive mennesker - slutter deres dag i Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso.

Moussa... En fin fyr, der klarer sig rigtig godt i baren.

Der er lige en håndfuld procent mere initiativ i ham end i nogen anden, bar-ejeren har haft til at arbejde for sig. Han er førstemand – og opfører sig som sådan. Utroligt, hvor meget vi fokuserer på politisk korrekthed hos os. Selv hans egne kolleger bliver – hans venlige væsen til trods – fra tid til anden overfuset i en grad, der i Europa ville medføre mindst 4 forskellige søgsmål.

Hernede i det ’mørke’ Afrika er der ikke begrænsninger for, hvorledes man har lov til at være overfor hinanden, hvis eens ’station’ i livet tillader det. Utildækket rascisme er blandt dagligdagens mange udfordringer – men hernede er det ikke et så meget et spørgsmål om farve som det drejer sig om klaner, stammer, familier eller ’slags’... Der gøres nar af folks tilhørsforhold i en tone, der ville få selv Morten Messerschmith til at lyde som en børnehavepædagog...

Oki, nu er der sikkert mange beriddere af den moralske korretheds fløjhingst, der allerede har logget af/slukket/klikket videre i teksten...

Ikke desto mindre er det realiteten i den verden, så utroligt få danskere egentlig ser.

Vi lever i et af de mest priviligerede samfund, verden nogensinde har set. Selvom Ekstra-Bladet nyder at fange især net-læsernes øjne med den ene mere brutale overskrift efter den anden, er risikoen for at dø en utidig død i Danmark ’next-to-nothing’, hvis vi sammenligner med Vestafrika.

Derfor håber jeg, at det giver mening, når jeg korser mig over, at det tilsyneladende udelukkende er problemer med 50-øres gebyrer på det forjættede Dankort eller dræbersnegle i de danske villahaver, der kan hidse os op...

Min pointe er simpel:
Næste gang du bruger en kvittering fra en hæveautomat som bogmærke – så vær glad for, at du har et hævekort...og en bog at bruge bogmærket i.
Næste gang du bestemmer dig for at prøve noget nyt, så nyd at du har den mulighed overhovedet. Nyd at der er valg – og at du har dem.
Nyd, at er et alternativ, noget en utroligt masse mennesker er villige til at forsøge at krydse Middelhavet i et skåret badekar uden bundprop for at opleve...

Afrika er et godt sted, hvis man trænger til at få sat tingene i perspektiv.

fredag, november 23, 2007

WOW isn't always World of Warcraft...

I thought I'd upload a few snaps of the women of West Africa (hence the heading...)

To me, these faces displays a lot of the hardships that women have to endure in Africa - but they also display an incredible strenght... Enjoy!


 

 

 

 
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onsdag, oktober 31, 2007

An ode to the seasons of the bush...

”Ouch!”, I had to utter.
A nerve-breaking rattle goes through the car, as my driver crosses a big bump on the dusty bush-road in western Burkina Faso. As we are blazing through the bush, I thought I would try and give you, my dear reader, a bit of an insight into the changes of the seasons and as a result of that also the changes in living conditions for man and beast alike here in West Africa.

The rainy season has come and gone, so one can once again observe amazing changes in the landscape. From a bleak, extremely dry and reddish brown savannah with scattered trees with small and pale leaves the entire scenery changes in a matter of weeks if not days when the rain comes, and as soon as the rains cease the transformation to a desolate moon-like world begins again.

Down here it’s completely dry from late October until May/June where the big rains begin in earnest. April/May/June is also the worst period to be down here – so I’m quite thankful that the shea season is peaking in the period from mid-July until late January. The month of May is marked by huge dust storms, daily temperatures in the vicinity of 53-54 degrees Celsius and a complete lack of humidity that dries out your sinuses in a matter of minutes. When one gets out of the car, the brain ceases to work after about 2 minutes under those conditions…

Then, when the rains finally arrive, the entire landscape seems to come to life simultaneously. Everything grows, sprouts and blossoms and the open, barren view changes to a green wall of 8 feet tall grasses and plants enclosing the road completely. The bush is nothing short of beautiful when it is literally bursting with life and growth. The month of August presents any visitor with spectacular green views and pleasant day-time temperatures in the high twenties/low thirties with frequent rains to keep the dust down.

August represents the perfect climate if it hadn’t been for the numerous mosquitoes being hatched everywhere in this period. The deaths and illnesses that are brought on by these malaria-carriers defies belief – and during the months of September to November companies and hotels etc. struggle to keep their staff at work because of the many malaria attacks their employees have to stomach. A good friend of mine working at the hotel I normally stay at in Bobo-Dioulasso lost his sister-in-law the day before yesterday. In the morning she was fine – in the late evening she died leaving her husband and 3 small children… Malaria is not a thing to be taken lightly – although so very little is being done to control it compared to what we do to find a cure against AIDS… - but, as we all now – its only AIDS that white people have to worry about so why bother with the malaria?!? To be fair, quite a few efforts are now underway – focusing especially on handing out inexpensive nets to sleep under – and these efforts have been tremendously successful. What bothers me is that it has taken us so long to do this…

Now, in late October, the climate now changes once again. The last rains are short and infrequent and slowly all of the green colours of the bush grow pale, brown and grey. The locals start to burn the bush during the coming weeks and months – for hunting and farming purposes, I guess. A lot of effort is being put in to educate the local farmers not to do this, but as it is with all change down here a change of mentality is slow if not impossible to facilitate. Now, over the coming months, the landscape will slowly turn to the characteristic brownish-red, and all the lakes and quite a few of the smaller rivers dries up. In a few months time there are only a very few watering holes available for both livestock and wild animals, so one can get lucky and see herds of elephants drinking in one of the permanent lakes close by the roadside in the dry season where they cannot find water anywhere else.

As the grasses disappear so does the nutrition for the livestock, so cattle, sheep and goats start to loose weight. When the rains finally come, there is not much left except walking skeletons – and the same goes for a lot of the farmers and their families. People loose a lot of weigh when the food supply is nearly depleted. Particularly in July where the farmers await the maturing of the newly planted crops of especially corn and millet, life is hard. This period is normally called the ‘month of hunger’ by the Africans. The local variations of cattle have even developed a camel-like hump on their backs, which they use to build up a fat reserve during the time where the food is plentiful. At the end of June, that hump is completely deflated and it hangs down on the side of the animals like an empty balloon.

So - even though this time of year is good for the Burkinabé – the climate is pleasant, the food is plentiful – it also marks the beginning of a very long period of drought and dwindling food supplies. Once can understand why a lot of the local festivals, dances and masks are performed and made in the honour of the coming of the rains. The coming of the rain is essential to everyone here, and mere variations in the timing of the arrival of the first rains can mean the difference between life and death in West Africa.

“PANG!” A great bang once again shakes the car as we return to the main tarmac road and the driver speeds up to his standard leisurely pace of 120-140 km/h on our way to the Burkinabé capital, Ouagadougou, where my flight awaits me tonight. I ponder a bit about how lucky I am, having the possibility to return in a matter of hours to a Danish winter climate and our super-modern and equally rich country. If nothing else, travels in Africa offers one perspectives and appreciation for what we have in Scandinavia…

onsdag, september 19, 2007

A few shots from a recent trip to Banfora...again... :)




Hi!

I thought I should add a few photos too - more pics from yet another trip to the waterfalls of Banfora, but the best ones are taken from the car. The girls are street vendors, who always tend to lay siege to the car, when we are waiting at the toll gate...

Enjoy :)

A brilliant view on travelling...

Dear All,

Well, it seems that I'm to lazy or busy to keep the webblog updated - something quite a few people have objected against (thanks for that :)). Thus, I have had to find another way to keep you entertained, my dear reader.

A dear friend of mine called Emma has written the following text about travelling - and being a tourist. I hope you will enjoy it - I know I did!

Thanks for letting me post this, Emma!



The 10 advantages of being a tourist on holiday.



The first advantage of being a tourist; You are free to go and see whatever you wish. Sure, you’ve made plans, but you can change them. (This will also be listed under ‘The 10 advantages of being a human being’.)



The second is that you are allowed to be silly and ignorant. Let’s face it, we all know a tourist when we see one. They are to be recognized by maps of the city they’re in, camera’s and even more plainly in sight; the universal backpack. The male and female variety of the tourist are very much alike and only differ in the amount of luggage they carry. Now when a tourist accidentally does something wrong or stupid in a foreign country they never feel silly. You’re a tourist… how are you supposed to know? You can ask where the toilet is when standing right in front of it, it doesn’t matter. You can use the keycard in the hotel in exactly the wrong way, complain about it at the reception, get a new card, have the same difficulties, be accompanied by the receptionist leaving other clients to wait while she patiently shows you how it ís to be used and not feel silly at all, why on earth should you? After all you are a tourist who is unfamiliar with the ways and habits of the country you are in. You cannot help being ignorant and maybe a little stupid now and then. It is, of course, up to the inhabitants of the country you are visiting to make everything crystal clear.

In your own country you don’t want to look silly and therefore feel silly after making even the tiniest cock up; like not knowing that the escalator starts automatically when you step on it and therefore walking up the stairs when, almost reaching the top and not moving faster than the average octogenarian, you are being overtaken by tourists who are loitering about on the escalator.



Some people don’t cherish warm feelings for tourists. Tourists make the cities people live in commercial and expensive places. And sometimes you can see just that in the way they look at you, while you stand in the subway after you’ve ran over just about everybody’s toes with your suitcase trying to find a seat only to find one just before realizing that you have to get out at the next stop. However, when you ask for help you will meet with friendly smiles and ready explanations. People are proud of their cities and will help you to show you where you’re going. Obviously the sentence most often employed is ‘Excuse me, do you speak English?’, closely followed by ‘could you show me where I am on this map, please?’ and ‘How much?!?’. Now for the second and third question the answers are easily given, a simple pointing at the map and repeating the price will suffice, the first question however is of a more difficult nature. The answer can never be a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’. After a ‘yes’, the native will have to exhibit his knowledge of the language by understanding the next question and also answering it. Just saying ‘no’ and avoiding all that may sound like an easy way out, but it implies that they did understand the first question, which was in English, and also that they know the English word for ‘no’, a little knowledge of the language must therefore be suspected and so you can try to ask the next question by making strange gestures and using odd sentences, which are not in fact proper English at all. And now for the third advantage of the tourist after this introduction for it; there is no third advantage; it’s difficult to move yourself about in a country where you don’t know the language and the only thing you can hope for is people who will try their best at explaining that the few columns right behind you are in fact the temple of Zeus and you should not try to find another, more complete temple

.

The fourth advantage is seeing things you’ve never seen before. To give but one of a thousand examples; You’ve seen the Sistine chapel in books and on tv. You know the most famous part; the pointing of God towards Adam… that is what you will look for and upon finding it you will leave the chapel to find more recognizable items of interest.



The fifth advantage is that you get to spend money on things you don’t normally wish to spend your money on. This is your holiday after all. Examples are ice creams that cost 8 euros per scoop, postcards that are 5 euros each and peaces of string made to look like bracelets that are varying in price between 10 and 15 euros. Of course you get the more expensive one because you wouldn’t want an inferior quality.



The sixth advantage is procuring a tan. Unless of course you’re an albino or visiting The Netherlands in the summer. In most other cases tans are unavoidable as you’re bound to be outside more than during the bustle of your daily life.



The eighth advantage is tasting food you’ve never had before. Apart from acquiring a more varied taste it also, in many cases, gives you renewed appreciation of the use of a toilet within 100 meters from where you are at all times of the day.



The ninth advantage is the sheer invisibility you are cloaked with while visiting main attractions. There are only tourists where you are going. Everyone is going to look at whatever it is everyone has come to look at. No one will be looking at you. While staring in full awe of whatever is the attraction, you will hear faint sounds of admiration around you. The American ‘oh, my Gods’, the Chinese and Japanese clicking and zooming of camera’s, and the silent admiration of people who are not at leisure to give way to their utter amazement to anyone or the silence of people who do not know what everyone else is so impressed with. You do not have time to look about you at the people who are so struck, because you have also come to be struck and are far too busy showing everyone who is not watching you that you are likewise confounded by such a sight. The advantage of invisibility only can be trusted upon when you’re actually at the place of the attraction, for getting their by way of public transportation or having a drink in a café afterwards means that yòu will now be an attraction to your fellow tourists, and they to you, as there is nothing much else to look at.



And for the tenth and last advantage of this list of obvious advantages of being a tourist, I can only mention the joy of coming home again. The joy of telling everybody where you’ve been and what you’ve seen. The joy of making calls on people for whole evenings just to show them your wonderfully taken pictures of which you are sure they’ve never seen the like of in their lives. The joy of that first morning back at work, when the colleague who has been taking over for you hardly has composure enough to tell you what has to be done urgently, because that very afternoon it will be his turn to go on holiday to a far and as yet unknown place full of eminent pleasures. And, of course, the joy of visiting your own, normal supermarket again where you won’t be bothered with having to say ‘bonjour’ or ‘bon giorno’ or ‘buenas dias’ in a particularly cheerful manner, but where you can just go about your business and be as snappy to the check out girl as she was to the customer before you or ignore her altogether as she does you.



And there I conclude the advantages of being a tourist on holiday. I hope it has not been a tedious read. I realize these advantages are widely known already but I felt obliged to make them yet clearer and even more widely known to induce more people to venture from their comfortable homes into unknown worlds which are no doubt beyond their understanding but never beyond their reach.

mandag, august 06, 2007

Thought it was about time for a few shots of children, too :)

 

The normal mode of transportation for kids. Very handy for the mum, who has both hands free to work. The kids seem to love it, and they are always relaxed when they are that close to the body-heat of their mum.

 

This little guy showed some dancing skills - I had to restrain myself from kidnapping him and bringing him home to DK :)

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torsdag, august 02, 2007

A few snaps from a trip to Gaoua



This may look like something you have seen before, but the 2 snaps are from a region, I have never visited before in Burkina Faso called Gaoua. I have seen this type of wierd lake before, but I still have to stop, get out of the car and start taking picures whenever I pass them.

lørdag, juli 28, 2007

Bureaucractic & boisterous!

I was ready to blow up, yesterday evening, after yet another troublesome run-in with the wonders of Burkinabe bureaucracy - ever wonder why the last bit of that word spells -CRAZY??
Well, down here, the little "desk-popes" (wonderful, direct translation from Danish, that one) who makes it to a "proper" job at a public administration office or - even worse - a lawyers or a notaires office really excel in waisting the time of everyone else.
For about 4 months now, I have been trying to open up a local company down here, and it just takes for fxxxxin EVER to get through to these thick-headed officials. They seem to enjoy it, when some completly non-important document can be discarded, because it "only" arrived in 5 and not the proper 6 copies. You have no idea as to the amount of legal mumbo-jumbo dating back to the old colonial systems of France and the UK one has to put up with down here. Everything is red tape - and plenty of it. Yesterday, I had to give in my penal records. These had of course been aquired from the Danish police (no, I still hold a clean bill, thank you!), but when they got that, they suddenly changed their minds. Now they wanted one from the BURKINABE Police - even though I do not live in Burkina, nor am I registered with them, of course. Simply plain ridiculous.

In fact, this is a big part of the problems in Africa. They REALLY need some legal reforms here. No-one bothers to open up a company in a proper way before doing business, because it simply takes too long and costs an arm and a leg. Example: To open a company, one of the docs needed is a contract of hire for the place you want to do your business. This contract has to come in 6 signed, originals (for God's sake no copies), and these then has to be "legalised" - meaning they have to have a stamp costing about 1 usd sticked on to EACH PAGE of the 6 docs... Then you have to register the contract of hire - which costs you a "fee" of 10% of the annual rent!!!!! I'm telling you - it is simply madness!

A few pics from the latest trip...(as always: click to enlarge)

 

I think it's the sad expression in this boys face, that caught me. I know its not a good photo (taken through a car window), but his expression just sums up so much.

 

This one practially shot itself. Again - the little girls face just appealed to me.

 

Lastly, a couple of photos from Banfora - the bush is beautiful, when it's the rainy season!
 
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mandag, juli 02, 2007

Dodging malaria for a living! How does that relate to beauty?

Dear all,

I am really trying to get this blog updated more regularly when I'm travelling, I mean it must be possible to find 10 minutes every other day or so!?! So I really will try to up the number of posts, when theres good things to write about.
But, like all other self-reform-plans I've tried in my life, I am sure this is only a short-lived try, so enjoy it whilst it last!

The headline is meant as a comment to the 233553343 mosquito bites, which I have been "blessed" with since I got here. It seems like every single bug in Burkina wanted to wish me welcome "home" with a bite or two. I hope I'll be able to avoid the ever present malaria - (knock on wood) - but it really doesn't improve my physical status, that my favorite bars and restaurants all have outdoor serving only...

Anyhoot - one of the reasons why I'm so covered in bug bites is, that I was invited to the local "Miss Vacances" (miss holiday) here in Bobo yesterday. I couldn't resist such an offer - and I had a blast. The beer was ridiculously cheap (and the whisky too), and all of the lebaneese friends I have got down here were there too. We had a funny night, I promise you ! Beautiful women and cheap beer - as good as life can be ;). It was great fun to see how a beauty contest is held here - and quite impressive to see the local traditional dresses worn at a "catwalk", (actually, the catwalk was an improvised pavilion in a back alley doubling for a restaurant, but they had done an impressive bit of work with the lights and the incredibly loud music. Of course the power went about 3 times during the show, but hey, what can you expect?).

So I thought I'd better share this with you - and post a pic or two from the event - sorry about the quality, but I wasnt too close to the action, and I only had my cellphone...:




I'd better mention one more thing as an appendix to this story. I ordered a whisky (sorry, but it was less than 1 euro for a double), and the lady asked me, if I wanted ice with it. Not being too afraid for my health (one should normally be very careful with ice when travelling) and hoping the whisky would kill most of the bugs, I accepted. The lady then took out an icebag (a plastic bag filled with water and then stuck in the freezer), took a used, empty beer bottle to smash it, grabbed a few pieces of ice which she then used TO WASH HER HANDS OVER THE REMAINING ICE and finally she grabbed another bit of ice and stuck it in my glass... ENJOY!

lørdag, juni 30, 2007

...a snap from December...

 
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Probably as close as I will ever get to a wild elephant without a car or any other protection!

Sunset at Mopti!



...even the goats can't take their eyes of a sunset like this...

A new look!

After having wasted 2 hours this Saturday morning trying to access my bloody corporate server without success, I decided that a new look for the webblog would be a worthy way of spending the rest of the office hours!

Thus, I hereby present the new and improved look for the blog - a new look for a new season!

Latest update in my life is, that I will have to postpone my homecoming and thus shorten my vacation afterwards!!! Though break, but I have a huge amount of preparations to handle down here, ahead of the coming season. I'm quite the optimist, though, we will do our best to give our competitors a run for their money :)

fredag, juni 29, 2007

BIB - not MIB...

Dear all,

BIB - 'finally' back in West Africa for a time. Landed in Burkina Faso the day before yesterday, and I'm now Back In Bobo.
3 months is not a long time in WAF, and everything is as unchanged as usual - except the fact that my hotel now have draught beer!! What a fantastic piece of news for my liver.

Anyhoot, I have agreed to take on the African setup for yet another shea season, which is already approaching all too rapidly. During the coming year, I do not plan to live down here as much as the last one though, so I will spend some more time in Denmark and a lot more time on planes, I expect.

Otherwise, very little news in my life - except of course the big 3 - 0 approaching all too fast. I think the panic is already starting to spread in my system. I have been pleasantly surprised in this respect though. My sister and one of my best friends, Nis, have apparently planned and prepared the party for me! I think that is one of the kindest things, I have ever experienced, and I'm very much looking forward to this 'surprise'-party. I have to add though, that they have also done all the invitations, so if you are not invited, dont blame me! In stead, send an email to me if you feel left out :D

Take care back home - or wherever you are!
/rejsenegeren

P.S.: I just had to add an all time favorite photo...:

tirsdag, maj 01, 2007

The Danish Connection!

Dear All,

This is just a short message to let you all know that I have safely returned to Denmark, where I now try to get my old life back. It has been great to return to 'civilisation' as we so arrogantly put it, but mainly it has been great to see and spend time with the family and my friends. Fortunately, I also have a bundle of holidays coming up, so I hope I'll be able to spend it visiting a bundle of my friends - abroad as well as in Denmark.

My return-date to Africa is still uncertain, but I will keep you all posted in here (probably with a slight delay of about 3 weeks as always...).

Until then, be safe and enjoy life - a lot of people in Africa don't have that luxury!

/rejsenegeren

onsdag, marts 28, 2007

...a promised video from Mopti...

When I wrote my entry about the trip in Mali - Timbuktu, Mopti & Djenne - I promised to ask Torben for permission to upload one of his videos from the horribly poor Bella "neighbourhood" outside Mopti.

I enclosed in the original post, and it can also be found here:



I think the video says more than words...

fredag, marts 16, 2007

Going big in Ghana!




What a great experience!

So, I finally got a chance to try a lifes dream: Big game fishing in one of the worlds best areas for Blue Marlin - the coast of Ghana.

We chartered the ULTRA-PROFESSIONAL and very luxuriously equipped boat with the catchy name: "The Hooker"... It was truly a pleasure to work with these guys (no, they are not giving me commision for this post), especially the way they knew their fishing grounds. Oh, and the service included always ice cold beers as well as good food and plenty of snacks :)



Anyway, to get to the fishing bit, we had two hits during the day, the first one being on my rod (unfortunately putting me at the back of the cue), and I got the pleasure of fighting a small Wahoo (25pounds) - a fish said to be the fastest in the ocean. On gear as heavy as this, there wasn't really much fight, but it was a good warm-up, of what was to come next.

The second hit brought the boat to life after a few hours of quiet cruising without any action. The crew spottet a Marlin hunting close to the surface, and brougt us close. It got attracted to our lures ("extra" lures without hooks that trails the boat closely to bring in the big fish), and after giving us a brilliant view of the dorsal fin (about the size of a great white's) as it was hunting behind the boat. A few seconds later...the hit! When a fish like this takes the lure, the reel goes on overdrive, whilst the fish pulls it for about 200 yards in about 4 secs. It was fantastick to hear the "wrrrr" from the 125 pound (!) line, as the fish pulled.

James got in the chair and started the fight...

It didn't take as long as I expected, but it was great whilst it lasted. When the fish finally came along side, the crew prepared to release the fish. The catch-and-release principle means that only record-size fish are killed and brought in after the day. A great principle in my view, in order to protect the fish. It also means, however, that a lot of the fish get away, when you try to pull them in and along-side ship for a measurement. This was also, what happened to James, but at least it was after he had had the full fight :) I attach the finale, just when the fish is released - unfortunately without photo, but you can still see the huge shape, when the marlin pulls away from the boat. The guy handling the line - Frank - has participated in the capture of more than 2000 (!) marlins, and his estimate was 600 pound plus... What a day...


P.S.: I thought it prudent to add that same James managed to get out again some weeks later...and this time he got another 600-pounder all the way to the side of the boat - have a look:

søndag, marts 04, 2007

Finally! A report from Timbuktu and more...

Dear All,


Well, this time I think I might be pushing my readers’ patience when it comes to updating my blog. My daily schedule rarely lets me write these day-to-day posts, that normally characterize a blog (and neither does my internet-connection either), which is why these long updates arrive at a less than frequent pace. Some day, it would be nice to have sufficient time – or energy – to be a properly active blogger, but that day lies a bit far ahead in my case, I’m afraid…

- Well, all apologies aside, let me try to make up for several weeks (months?) of missing activity…

As I have mentioned before, I had the pleasure of visiting friends for almost 3 weeks before Xmas. It was truly a joy spending time with some old friends again, not just for the socialising (although that was very much needed) but also because I find, that one enjoys the great experiences down here a lot more, when one has someone to share them with. Thus, apart from daytrips in Ouaga, Banfora and the likes, we also enjoyed an extended weekend trip in Mali with visits to Timbuktu, Mopi, Djenne and San as well as some time in the Malian capital, Bamako.
Since I had to work through the whole stay of my friends, they also had quite a bit of time to themselves, which they bravely used to go exploring on their own – they (inadvertently, I guess) even visited the poorest and oldest quarter in Bobo – the neighbourhood with the worst reputation in this part of BF, where very few white guests normally go – and they did it on foot! Anyway, the fact that nothing happened, except for the unavoidable cries of “Tuab, tuab” (which means “whites, whites” in one of the local languages), just underlines that Burkina Faso in general – and Bobo in particular – has to take the price as the most peaceful place in West Africa. The general mentality is simply so very relaxed and pleasant, that one cannot help admiring it – because a lot of these people really don’t have a lot going their way in life.

Going on the big one in Mali

The round-trip in Mali was quite an experience. I have already posted quite a few photos on my new online photo album – http://picasaweb.google.dk/Rejseneger - from the different places we visited, but I think the trip deserves a few comments in writing as well. When I first booked the trip long before my friends had even arrived, it was not without a certain scepticism towards paying a lot of money (and quite a bit of that in advance) to a – to me – unknown Malian for a trip that amongst other things involved 2 domestic flights, 2 walks through the poorest neighbourhoods in Mali as well as a camel-ride on the border of the Sahara. All of my concerns proved to be falsely placed, though, because what we experienced was well worth the expensive ticked price – well worth it indeed.
After a night or two in Bamako – where I had to go for work anyway – that included outings to see the city from above, the presidents little “hut”, the artisans market (especially the carvings and the bronze there is exquisite – my mate Torben got his hands on two absolute masterpieces), my favourite bar (where a double whisky costs 15us, so we stuck to the beers) as well as a crossing of the Niger river at surface-level on old concrete blocks, we were ready to take on the adventure of the legendary Timbuktu – or Tomboctu, as it’s called in the French-speaking Mali.

This town is nothing less than amazing. Placed as close to the middle of nowhere as one can imagine, this city has such a long and incredible history, that one can truly feel the weight of the ages on ones shoulders, as one strolls down the cobbled streets in the city centre. Timbuktu used to be amongst the intellectual centres of the world before a jealous Moroccan king decided to sack the city and kidnap all the professors and scholars who worked there to bring them back to Morocco. Literally hundreds of thousands of students used to take one of the two equally perilous journeys either through the Sahara on the back of a camel or by the grandiose Niger river by tiny boats to go and study there. The city was mentioned in so many old documents and surrounded by such mystery, that for many years, the National Geographic Society in London had a price of ten thousand pounds in gold for the man who could prove that the city of Timbuktu actually existed!!!

After arriving there we had a very interesting guided tour through the old town seeing markets, mosques, historical points of interests etc. A great experience – I mean – if one has a bit of a travel-gene in ones body, isn’t it amongst the greats to be able to say that one has been to Timbuktu?! When I become an old toothless grandfather, I will be telling my grand-kids about it, that’s for sure!

An ‘excuse’ owed to an unknown association

Before taking my story further, I apparently have to issue an official excuse to DDF… If that name doesn’t ring a bell, I can tell you the abbreviation stands for ‘Dansk Donaldist Forening’ – Danish Donaldist Association/Union. If you, dear reader, aren’t very confused by now, I’d be surprised.
I know I was…
DDF is a group of people who apparently enjoy the wonders of Donald Duck to near-religious extremes. The whole, bizarre story took its beginning when I ‘Google’d’ the name ‘Rejseneger’ – just to check its originality. Apart from my blog appearing on the list of hits, to my great surprise I found a mention of my site as a part of a grand discussion on DDFs webpage. Of course I had to check it out, and it has apparently greatly offended members of this – sorry guys – very nerdy union, that I in a previous log-entry have mentioned, that “Timbuktu lies in Mali in stead of in the (fictional) country ‘Langtbortistan’”. I never, ever thought, that people would spend their time criticising something as far out as correct usage of fictional geography – much less getting sufficiently agitated as to be calling me an idiot for such a ‘horrible’ mistake. Well, not mentioning the fact that I think the editorial freedom of blogs should be very big indeed, I shall happily give my excuses for having the before mentioned remark taken so insanely literal and serious… “Sorry..!”
Should you wish to see this insanity for yourself, the link is: Http://ddfr.dk/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=17505#p17505

As a postscript I have to mention that the initial post in this string mentioned that I have been published in something as famous as “Herning Folkeblad” (a tiny newspaper that I have never even seen a copy of in my life). I don’t know what is worse; Criticising people for not knowing their IMAGINARY AND FICTIOUS places’ proper geographical position, falsely accusing someone of having published this in an almost unknown newspaper or taking comics religiously serious? I leave that judgement to you, dear reader, and I hope that this will someday hit the website of DDF as well. If nothing else, I promise you, that I had the laugh of the week when I discovered this 


The Sahara seen from the back of a camel.

So, after this short excuse, let’s get back to what this blog is all about – great experiences on an equally great continent!
After an incredibly interesting day walking through Timbuktu – including a visit to the house of the first white man ever to reach the city (who was unfortunately beheaded by the local Touareg-people, so he never got his gold) and a lunch with plenty of sand in it at the local market (it is said, that if bread in Timbuktu isn’t crunching with sand, it’s not properly prepared), we were ready to take a late afternoon ride out into the outskirts of the Sahara by camel… Great authentic experience – right up until the cell-phone of one of our camel-guides rang! Amazing to have such a clash of new and old, I remembered thinking. The people there live in huts made from braided straw or patched camel hides depending on their financial means as they have for centuries, but at the same time, the local cell phone antenna mounted in the centre of Timbuktu provides ample coverage for at least an hour’s camel-ride into the desert. A bizarre experience in many ways.
When we reached the small settlement we were there to visit and share some tea at (I believe I have covered the Malians’ addiction to tea in a previous post on this blog), the circus started. Many years ago, the Touareg people lived as kings of the desert, keeping a whole tribe as their slaves (they are called the Bella and in spite of their status as free people today, they still live in the most extreme degree of poverty), and making big profits on transporting salt in great caravans travelling by night across the Sahara. I believe it must be this history, which has given the Touareg their image as the “proud men of the desert” that one sees pictured in both movies and books aplenty – VW has even released a car-model called Touareg, I believe. This very glorified image deserves heavy revision today, though. Here we have a people, which used to make a living by either crossing the Sahara, burning or robbing villages (to ensure a plentiful supply of slaves) or just simply breeding and selling camels.
Today, Maersk Line can put a container of salt in Timbuktu in a matter of days and at a fraction of the cost of a trip on the back of a camel, and slavery has thankfully been prohibited even in Mali. This leaves this ‘proud’ people in a position where they have to adapt to changes, and this is something they in my view are extremely poor at.
Apparently it is – according to traditional Touareg beliefs - unworthy for a man to work, except if one does camel caravans, slaving or traditional handicrafts. Since the 2 first options don’t exist anymore, the third option – along with begging, which apparently is a perfectly fine way of making a living – seems to be the only way these people try to survive today. There is literally NOTHING left of this once ‘proud’ culture in my humble opinion. They are – and I’m sorry for the harshness of this wording – reduced to a people of peddlers and beggars. Whenever you meet a Touareg in West Africa today, you’d better start saying ‘no’ right away, unless you want to end up with a worthless piece of ‘silver’ jewellery or an even more useless sabre made of ’real’ iron…
The village we visited consisted of kids trying to get in front of our cameras only to demand money for the photo-op and then plenty of eager salesmen who wanted to fill our pockets with ridiculously poor trinkets of questionable value. Some of the traditional art of the Touareg is actually very beautiful, but what these guys were selling was frankly speaking just junk.
At least the tea was good, and the sunset beautiful…

By the way, if you try to ride a camel the way one rides a horse at a trot, it can result in heavy blistering in places I really would prefer to leave unmentioned in this post…

Mopti and Djenne!

After a reasonable meal at the hotel in Timbuktu (although Torben kept longingly mentioning the wonderful vegetable soup his girlfriend makes him) and a good nights sleep, we were transported (at break-neck speed I must add) to the airport and our second flight with the wonderful national Malian airways. They proved to be a big surprise to me, I must say. The other local flights I have taken down here have left me with fear bordering phobia against flying in WAF. I promise you, dear reader, that the planes still in operation down here wouldn’t be allowed to leave the runway – much less the hangar – in any western country. They are old, worn and in a horrible state of maintenance, they most often only fly with one pilot (allegedly the one in Ghana has a drinking problem too, to make matters worse) and there is quite a bit of turbulence over the West African continent. All in all a wonderful combination that normally makes me do a pope-imitation every time I successfully survive a flight down here. All of this being said, however, the Malian airline proved to be a very pleasant experience. The plane was new, apparently in good shape and there were two (2!) guys in the cockpit! The flights are low altitude flights, so the views were amazing, flying over the big deltas and green areas bordering the ever impressive river Niger.

After having gotten our luggage in no time (another positive surprise), we entered what must be considered to be one of the smallest airports in the world, where another guide was waiting with a 4x4 to drive us into Mopti town. The entry into Mopti is impressive – the road crosses a big, dammed (no, not damned!) delta, where you have green farmland on one side and a big lake on the other. It is also where you can experience a Mopti carwash! They have a ramp down into the water, and they simply back the vehicles down it until they are parked out in the water where the hand-washing begins! An interesting sight, I must say.

We started the day with a long walk through Mopti, starting at the central Mosque in town, and then walking through poorer and poorer neighbourhoods for what seemed like hours. When you are a tourist, it’s sometimes quite hard to be left alone – and much less be allowed to take photos – but since the tour was guided, it proved to be a very easygoing way of experiencing the town. The guide ensured us almost total freedom during the tour, and he was quick to tell us if there was anything we couldn’t do. We saw markets, narrow alleys, open sewers and a multitude of welcoming people – constantly chanting the now much known ‘tuab, tuab’. Fortunately, the guide taught us to reply in fashion by shouting ‘frarafin, farafin’ – meaning ‘Africans, Africans’ – which resulted in a lot of laughter and smiles.


A sight with a huge impact

The part of the whole trip, that I think had the biggest impact not only on my visiting friends but on me as well, was when we finally reached the poorest quarter of Mopti, home of the before mentioned Bella tribe – the former slaves of the Touareg. After having seen continuously poorer and poorer neighbourhoods, we thought the tour was coming to its conclusion as the open sewer ended at a road crossing. We were very surprised to see that this was not the case at all… After crossing the road, we descended into what must be the very extremes of human poverty. The now “free” tribe of the Bellas in Mopti, today still regarded as holding the lowest position in the social hierarchy, now try to survive on the remains and wastes from the city. I have seen poverty in many forms on my different travels, but this place takes the ‘price’. Torben took several photos and a bit of film as well – I will see if he agrees to a posting of it here – it is needed, because words have a hard time describing what we saw at this place. The luckiest had what could pass for a hut, whilst the poorest simply slept on the ground in the midst of waste, sewage and animal manure. Kids with big bellies were playing in the – pardon my French – shit, and the whole place had an eerie atmosphere of despair and misery.

Torben let me post the video. "Enjoy":


After this, the trip led us to a tour of the port – Mopti’s business core – where longtail-boats much like the ones seen in the far east were aplenty in all different sizes. They all held a multitude of people, however, and even the tiniest ones apparently served as the only home for the families on board. They live their entire life on the river and only come to shore to sell their excess catches and to by the few necessities the river cannot provide them. The whole port has a seething, bustling atmosphere and is a great experience to see. We were all exhausted now, physically but especially mentally, so we had to decline an offer of lunch at the port in order to go to the hotel and rest. Particularly the walk through the Bella-neighbourhood weighed like a tonne on the mental scale, so a few hours were spent resting and discussing the sights of the day – it was great having friends there to share the experience with – because this day is not one easily forgotten.

The afternoon and evening was passed sailing on the Niger and its tributary – where Kasper found out, that he needs to have kids (and soon, too!) when a small girl instantly fell in love with him during a visit to one of the many islands in the Niger-delta. I believe that a few photos of the two together can be found on the previously mentioned web-album. In the end, he couldn’t help handing her a small note (1000 CFA - less than 2 euros) that promptly resulted in her running away with the note above her head shouting jubilantly - and a few minutes later, the entire village was headed in our direction to see if more gifts were available. In stead of waiting for this we quickly made our escape on the boat and we spent the last minutes of sunlight on the calm waters of the great Niger.



A mosque to remember


The distance between Mopti and Djenne were covered by car – thankfully this time with a less psychotic driver – and since we only had a few hours in Djenne – we took an early start out of Mopti.
Djenne is considered a world heritage monument in general – and the great mosque in particular. It’s the world’s larges structure built out of sand and mud – and it has a very interesting history. Originally built as a temple for the local animist beliefs, it has been sacked and burned on more than one occasion – and has during the last a little more than a 100 years served as a Muslim mosque in its current form. Again, we profited a lot from having a local guide, who not only knew a lot about Djenne and its history – he could also open a lot of doors and ensure a lot of good photo opportunities for us.


The tour of Djenne also brought professional input for Nis who, being a plumber, with great interest could look at the multi-storey toilets attached to the exterior of the houses in Djenne. The great bit about them was that they were not connected to a drain! Therefore, we were explained, the inhabitants of the house had to empty this massive 4 metre tall loo every now and then by literally breaking a hole at the bottom and manually removing the contents. This information immediately spawned a big discussion in our group how this chore was allocated. Our best guess would be that the last man in does the job – I’ll leave further details of our discussion to the imagination of you, dear reader.
In order to avoid that the description of Djenne ends up being rather latrine, I will add that we had a very interesting tour of the town, with plenty of sights and observations. Very much worth a visit, indeed.
In the afternoon, another drive was requested to get us back to Segou for a few nightcaps on the bank of the river and a well deserved rest. My driver had taken the trip Bamako-Segou on his own, so we could return to Bobo during the morning of the following day.



Thus ends yet another of my far too voluminous posts – I know that a lot more frequent and shorter (!) posts would be ideal – I hope you enjoyed it. Don’t hesitate to post comments or send request if there are photos you’d like to see posted here. I have been having continuous problems with the programme I use to upload photos to Blogger with, so please forgive me, if photos go missing or aren’t posted at all.

Finally, I include direct links to some of my photoalbums online:




torsdag, januar 25, 2007

...more kids again...


The pics can be found here:

Kids from Ghana!

Apparently, my software for uploading images has gone all haywire, so from now on I guess the blog will not contain too many photos... In stead, these will be uploaded to my online photoalbum - http://picasaweb.google.com/rejseneger -

You can also choose to click on the links to "photo" or "Video" on the top of my blog!

Enjoy :)

tirsdag, januar 23, 2007

More kids!!!!


Check these new videos, with children and women dancing in northern BF:

lørdag, januar 20, 2007

An early wake-up call in BF!

A little before 7 a.m. this Saturday (!) morning, suddenly, my whole appartment shook! The windows trembled and I could even feel the sound vibrations in my bed! Except from big outdoor stadium-type concerts, I have never heard music played so loud... The whole thing turned out to be a great new advertising campaign, commenced by a local competitor to Maggi. The crowd quickly grew - and even if I couldn't catch it on camera, several hundred people were assembled at the end (they gave out free t-shirts - always a crowd-pleaser in West Africa). Anyways, I thought I would let you all have a view of how commercials are done in Burkina, and at the same time test video on blogger - try it out - just click on the link below the photo!!