deartraveller

Dear Erica, 

I am actually blown away by Rome, as you said it yourself 'Rome is the perfect place to visit, to live and to fall in love!', I can't believe I haven't set foot there yet!! But it's a fault that will soon be corrected!

But this week, while you were falling in love (by the ruins of course), I had some complete routine changer days!

As me and Gabriel arrive to a new country a place to stay is the first concern we have. If every week were like Dubai's we wouldn't have a problem in finding it, but this time there was no contest to provide us with luxuries and a nice (very nice) view. So I don't think you'll believe me when I tell you where did I slept through my 'beauty hours' for the entire week.

In the West African nation of Mali situated 20 km north of the River Niger on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert (the gateway to it actually) within the confines of the fertile zone of the Sudan and in an exceptionally propitious site near to the river - Timbuktu!

We arrived in a Monday morning so I was already accepting the possibility of reaching Timbuktu by foot and of sleeping in the desert, but to my surprise the most adorable ‘grandpa’ I’ve ever seen was expecting us both and with the most adorable donkey to transport us. (Can’t help to think of Shrek right?). His name is Pierre and he speaks French, but an even bigger surprise was that Gabriel speaks French too! So they went along very well and I only understood two or three words during each conversation. French is Mali's official language, but today the large majority of Timbuktu's inhabitants speak Koyra Chiini, a Songhay language that also functions as the lingua franca. But if my French is weak imagine my ‘Koyra Chiini’…

So in order to stop you from holding your breath I slept on the sand. Pierre’s house is mainly sand and since there is sand everywhere, why shouldn’t it be on my mattress to?

Well that's right, once again I ended up in a place where there was no rain, yes in December, who knew!, but Timbuktu has a dry season during winter and as it deals with both droughts and floods, I can’t help wonder if there’s an insufficient drainage system, that fails to transport direct rainwater from the city centre, or just all the rain that I’ve avoided ends up here.

The town is surrounded by sand dunes and the streets are covered in sand (sand everywhere I’m telling you!!), so flip-flops were the most wanted and used mean of transportation. As it’s a plain city we spend the all time on foot and unfortunately we didn’t get in time to witness the most well-known cultural event of Timbuktu - the Festival au Désert. As it was explained to me, mostly by Gabriel that translated Pierre’s constant talking: When the Tuareg rebellion ended in 1996 under the Konaré administration, 3,000 weapons were burned in a ceremony dubbed the Flame of Peace on 29 March 2007. The Festival to celebrate the peace treaty is held near the city in January, so I’ll have to come back next year!

The monument built to commemorate the ceremony.

Sankore Mosque - Built in the 14th century.

Did you know that Timbuktu besides being the name of the country it also means 'any distant or outlandish place' and translates to 'from here to Timbuktu'? Now we have a phrase to characterize all of our trips!

Missing you a lot,

Sara.

P.S.: Timbuktu is one of the cities of Africa whose name is the most heavily charged with history. So, for you to remember it from time to time, you adopted Pierre’s new-born donkey! Of course that you’re more than welcome! See it as a present from me to you, I don't wanna be the only one with gifts! I’ll send you the first picture but then I want you to send me photos of my new nephew!