The heart of my journey was Mali.
The boat trip from Mopti to Djenne was supposed to take 12 hours
& instead it took 3 1/2 days.
There was so little water in the river
that we kept having to get out of the canoe to lighten the load
and push the boat down the river.
There were only 4 of us on the boat and lots of burlap sacks of grain
Besides me, there was a woman passenger
on whose hands and feet were painted beautiful red designs in henna.
The woman and I sat facing each other on the lumpy sacks for 3 days
& each curled up on them to sleep at night.
I fluctuated between being enchanted with the river,
the motion, the people, the skinny cows
the encampments of huts made of woven raffia mats
& pissed I had ever started the whole thing since it was taking so long,
bored, physically uncomfortable.
I started reading Virginia Wolf, To The Lighthouse.

It would have been a great 12 hour trip
It began to seen that Djenne didn’t really exist.
Finally we arrived at the beach & had to walk 4 km
exhausted from not having slept well for 3 nights.
First we arrived at the shell of a town without any people
and then there was Djenne beyond, a charming town with twisty back streets and alleys.
& lots of children studying from Arabic tablets.

Of course I went to the market–one of the supreme joys of West Africa.
Markets are lively, Lots of commotion, Very social.
Venders show their wares on varieties of tables or cloth spread on the ground.
It was always the place I went as soon as possible when I arrived anywhere.
It was a good way to orient myself to the place,
see the variety of produce and spices and household goods.
I would buy the smallest example of each type of basket I encountered
so it would fit in my pack.
I sought out the printed and woven cloth. perhaps there would be a local broom
or a new kind of ceramic vessel or some kind of fruit I had never seen before.
I could hear the local language, Get a cheap and filling meal,
Perhaps find a place to stay.

And Djenne has the most beautiful mosque made of mud in West Africa.
I timidly tried to explore the mosque not sure if women or non-Muslims were allowed.
I entered the gateway & peeked in at the entrance of the mosque.
I was thinking about climbing the mud stairs on the outside of the building
when someone came along and instead of asking permission, I left.

I traveled back to Mopti from Djenne by road
and instead of three days, the trip took 3 hours.