We finally arrive at Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso airport
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso - Girl looking at us in the car from outside
We met up with Tirma, Raul, Kaou and Vann in Banfora, Burkina Faso. Start of our Mali & Burkina Faso trip!!!
Banfora, Burkina Faso - Karfiguela Waterfalls
Banfora, Burkina Faso - Karfiguela Waterfalls. What is Raul thinking!??!?!
Banfora, Burkina Faso - Tengrela Lake canoe trip. There are hippos in this lake, but we didn't see any.
Banfora, Burkina Faso - Tengrela Lake canoe trip
Banfora, Burkina Faso - Tengrela Lake canoe trip sunset
Banfora, Burkina Faso - Breakfast at the hotel
Leaving Banfora, Burkina Faso. This is the 4x4 we traveled in during the whole trip
Banfora, Burkina Faso - Domes de Fabedougou
Drive from Banfora, Burkina Faso to Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso - Termite Mound
Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso Market
Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso Market - The women carry trays of watermelon (or other food) on their heads. To keep the dust and dirt out they cover the trays with plastic bags. It's amazing how the things they carry don't fall!!!!
Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso Market - Christine meets a friend!!!!
Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso - These kids wanted to play and have their picture taken
Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso
Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso - This woman is grilling plantains (locally called aloco) on the street. We bought 2.
Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso - Eating aloco
Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso - We met this guy in the market and he stopped when he saw us buying aloco. He told me that I reminded him of his wife who was from San Fransicso that she looked exactly like me. After I told him my name was Christine, he told me her name was Kristin!!! What a coincidence!!! HeeHeeHee!!!
Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso - Men playing a typical game in the street. They move pebbles around a board...everyone played it in Mali and Burkina Faso
Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso Mosque
Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso - Old town of Kibidwe eating watermelon
Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso - Kids from the old town of Kibidwe. They all wanted a picture except one. Guess which one!!!!
Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso - Kids from the old town of Kibidwe. The kids loved getting their picture taken
Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso - Old town of Kibidwe. This water flow was so dirty. There was garbage and livestock all along the banks. Despite the dirtiness people were bathing and playing in it.
Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso - It was so hard to cross the street. You just had to go. The cars and scooters would find their ways around the people.
Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso - Jirma (Tirma Bobo!!!) Water
Crossing the street in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso. Cars did not stop, you had to just run and take your chances!!!
Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso - Satcha and Raul help push a car that wouldn't start up
Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso Hotel
Drive from Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso to Mopti, Mali. It's amazing how many people can fit into a car...notice the feet sticking out of the back!!!
Drive from Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso to Mopti, Mali - Christine, Tirma and Kaou (our guide)
Mopti, Mali - Kids playing soccer
Mopti, Mali - Bani River Sunset
Mopti, Mali - Kids cleaning fresh fish
Mopti, Mali - Street food. We bought some fried bread and peanuts
Mopti, Mali - Street food
Mopti, Mali Hotel
Mopti, Mali - Bani River Bank
Mopti, Mali - Woman carrying things on her head
Mopti, Mali. Mopti is known for this type of pottery
Mopti, Mali - Fulani men. The Fulani are traditionally a nomadic, pastoralist, trading people, herding cattle, goats and sheep
Mopti, Mali - Women sell fresh fish at the river bank
Mopti, Mali - Men working!!!!
Mopti, Mali - Barbershop
Mopti, Mali - Handicrafts Market. The men sew the different fabrics to make clothes.
Mopti, Mali
Mopti, Mali - Mosque
Mopti, Mali - Old town
Mopti, Mali - Old town girl chopping wood
Mopti, Mali - Old town. The kids lined up for a picture.
Mopti, Mali - Old town. Obama!
Mopti, Mali - Old town. Girl braiding hair
Mopti, Mali - Market. Notice the iron....it's not electric
Mopti, Mali - Market
Mopti, Mali - Market, produce area
Mopti, Mali - Market, butchers area
Mopti, Mali - Market, fish area
Mopti, Mali - Old town, girls braiding hair. One girl felt my hair and started laughing because of the texture. I don't think she'd ever touched hair so different from hers!!!!
Mopti, Mali - The guy in the red hat is shaving the guy in the blue shirt. He was using a razor blade without shaving cream or water.
Mopti, Mali - Bani River Bank. The white pieces are salt slabs brought to Mopti by boat from the Sahara desert. They are used for the livestock. The livestock lick the salt slabs for the minerals
Mopti, Mali - Pinasse Boat Ride. We went to where the Bani River meets the Niger River
Mopti, Mali - Pinasse Boat Ride. It's amazing how many people, and thier goods, can fit into a pinasse
Mopti, Mali - Pinasse Boat Ride.
Mopti, Mali - Dried fish market. Women sell dried, salted fish. There was such a strong smell at this market.
Mopti, Mali - Raul and Tirma bought bananas for our drive to Timbuktu the next day. All fruit was so delicious
Mopti, Mali - Notice anything funny in the back seat of the car????
Drive from Mopti, Mali - to Timbuktu, Mali. All the sudden, out of nowhere, we saw the beginning of the Bandiagara Escarpment
Ferry to Timbuktu, Mali
Ferry to Timbuktu, Mali - Kaou was so happy!!! We didn't have to wait at all for the ferry. We got on and left. He told us that sometimes you can wait up to three hours for the ferry to leave, since it leaves when it's full.
Ferry to Timbuktu, Mali - Watermelon lunch
Ferry to Timbuktu, Mali - These men were praying, but when the cell phone rang they stopped to talk on the phone!
Timbuktu, Mali
Timbuktu, Mali - Christine playing with kids.
Timbuktu, Mali Hotel
Timbuktu, Mali - Djingareyber Mosque
Timbuktu, Mali - Sankore Mosque
Timbuktu, Mali - People hang dead cats on the electrical lines to show where the cat-eaters live
Timbuktu, Mali - Ecole de base Mitiki Grade School.
Timbuktu, Mali - Ecole de base Mitiki Grade School Classroom
Timbuktu, Mali - Ecole de base Mitiki Grade School. This is one of the classrooms. There's no electricity and it's a mud structure. It gets really hot inside.
Timbuktu, Mali - Ecole de base Mitiki Grade School. The walls are used to draw on, for example there were drawings of the digestive system, the heart, a map of West Africa and Africa.
Timbuktu, Mali - Ecole de base Mitiki Grade School. The kids are taught in French.
Timbuktu, Mali - Ecole de base Mitiki Grade School. Some of the kids and teachers sang the Mali National Anthem which they sing every morning before class starts.
Timbuktu, Mali - Ecole de base Mitiki Grade School. Signing the guestbook
Timbuktu, Mali - Two Tauregs: Tirma and Christine!!! The Tuareg are a Berber nomadic pastoralist people. They are the principal inhabitants of the Saharan interior of North Africa
Timbuktu, Mali - Camel ride into the Sahara desert
Timbuktu, Mali - Sahara desert
Timbuktu, Mali - Taureg Sahara desert
Timbuktu, Mali - Tauregs Sahara desert
Ferry leaving Timbuktu, Mali
Road leaving Timbuktu, Mali
Drive from Sévaré, Mali to Djenné, Mali.
Djenné, Mali
Djenné, Mali - Senosa Village
Djenné, Mali - The Great Mosque of Djenné
Djenné, Mali - The Great Mosque of Djenné is the largest mud brick or adobe building in the world and is considered by many architects to be the greatest achievement of the Sudano-Sahelian architectural style
Djenné, Mali - Monday market. The Djenné market is on mondays. People come from all around the city to sell and buy anything and everthing from clothes to food.
Djenné, Mali - Monday market.
Djenné, Mali - The Great Mosque of Djenné. The sign reads, "No entry for non-muslims"
Djenné, Mali - People leaving Monday market at the end of the day
Djenné, Mali - Waiting for ferry. This little boy was laughing the whole time
Dogon Country - Niongono
Dogon Country - Niongono. Satcha climbing the ladder to get to the roof of the house
Dogon Country - Djiguibombo toguna and baobab tree
Dogon Country - Djiguibombo toguna
Dogon Country - Teli
Dogon Country - Teli Mosque
Dogon Country - Teli. We slept on the roof of these rooms
Dogon Country - Teli. Climbing the ladder to get to bed
Dogon Country - Teli. Sleeping on the roof
Dogon Country - Teli. Morning after getting no sleep. We listened to the donkeys, roosters and cows the whole night!
Dogon Country - Teli. Trekking to the old town built into the escarpment
Dogon Country - Teli.
Dogon Country - Trekking from Teli to Endé
Dogon Country - Trekking from Endé to Yabatalou
Dogon Country - Yabatalou. Sleeping on the roof
Dogon Country - Yabatalou. Christine and Tirma with the chief of the village. He changed into his best clothes and lent us his rifle and hat for the picture
Dogon Country - Yabatalou. The chief of the village showed us his picture albums where he had pictures of himself and the tourists who'd visited the village. Satcha printed out our picture so he could add that to his collection
Dogon Country - Yabatalou shower
Dogon Country - Yabatalou.
Dogon Country - Trekking from Yabatalou to Begnimato
Dogon Country - Begnimato.
Dogon Country - Begnimato. Christine didn't feel well
Dogon Country - Trekking from Begnimato to Indelu.
Dogon Country - Trekking from Begnimato to Indelu. These were the boys who led us to Indelu.
Dogon Country - Indelu. Mask dance
Dogon Country - Indelu. Hanging out with the kids of the village
Dogon Country - Indelu. Sleeping on the roof
Dogon Country - Indelu. Christine writing in her journal. The little girl is hiding from the adults.
Dogon Country - Indelu. Macaroni dinner
Dogon Country - Indelu. The morning after not getting any sleep because of the wind
Dogon Country - Indelu. Christine the nurse
Dogon Country - Songo
Ségou, Mali
Ségou, Mali - Making Millet Beer
Ségou, Mali - Satcha drinking Millet Beer
