Welcome to SoloLady.com - Your Source for Single Living, Single Travel and Single Parenting!
 
HOME PAGE      ABOUT US      BLOGS      MESSAGES        E-MAIL OTHERS ABOUT OUR SITE
The Web sololady.com

Solo Lady Blog Topics

  • Good info (0)
    Last Post: (11/28/2012 5:27:45 PM)
  • Lonely (3)
    Last Post: (11/15/2010 8:10:27 PM)
  • unfixable (0)
    Last Post: (3/21/2009 12:57:58 AM)
  • Just You (0)
    Last Post: (12/31/2008 8:10:14 PM)
  • A Foil Tip (0)
    Last Post: (5/27/2008 3:20:02 PM)
  • Robbers? (0)
    Last Post: (7/12/2007 7:49:15 PM)
  • Valerie (0)
    Last Post: (3/8/2007 9:23:10 AM)
  • Susan B. (0)
    Last Post: (10/17/2006 8:48:51 AM)
  • Moving On (0)
    Last Post: (2/3/2006 12:00:00 AM)
  • Beds (0)
    Last Post: (1/4/2006 12:00:00 AM)

 

POST A REPLY TO THIS BLOG    

To Timbuktu and back...

Written by: Julie Paterson 5/18/2008 10:10:17 AM
“Sir, Timbuktu does not exist. It is not a real place”. An American I met was told this by his travel agent when trying to book a flight there. After 3 weeks of hard African travel on tiring, dusty, hot and bone-shattering busrides over rutted roads, crammed into old local buses, I am glad to say, it does exit. Because that is exactly where I was headed.

So just where the heck is Timbuktu? It’s in Mali, West Africa, of course. The infamous and mysterious Timbuktu was hard to get to 150 years ago, and it is still hard to get to today. Timbuktu is legendary due to the fact that it used to be an important trading post (for gold, ivory, salt and slaves) linking west Africa with traders from the north. But not everyone was allowed in. Especially curious Europeans – they risked their lives going in. The Brits and the French had a race to get someone there in the 1820s, going to great lengths – a Frenchman, Renè Cailliè, learnt Arabic and disguised himself as an Arab to get in. But these days it is shadow of it’s former self - a sandy old town with a fascinating history.

So what is the point of going to Timbuktu these days? Well, a most incredible 3-day music festival takes place not far from there each year in January. It’s called the Festival au Desert (“festival in the desert”) and it is set amongst a sea of sweeping, cream-coloured sand dunes, 3 hours from Timbuktu (…or up to 6 hours depending on how many times you get stuck in the sand on the way). Although we had an experienced local desert driver, the festival is not that easy to find – I mean, all those dunes look the same to us Europeans. So we took a local hitchhiking Tuareg with us to guide us through the look-alike dunes.

And who are the Tuaregs? Tuaregs are nomads of the Sahara desert. They dress in flowing blue robes, wear indigo Turbans tied elaborately around their heads, and saunter around on camel back. With just their eyes showing and their fluid, slow movements – nothing happens quickly in the heat of the desert – they look so mysterious, exotic and proud. The natural indigo dye from their turbans rubs off on their skin, turning them blue – this acts as protection from the sun for them, and hence they are known as the “blue men”.

How was the festival? Amazing! Stunning! Unforgettable! On arrival we were met with an exotic scene of Tuareg tents scattered between the dunes, Tuaregs on camelback, robes flowing in the wind. The next three sleepless days and nights were a hot and sandy whirlwind of incredible African music. Mali has some of the best music in all of Africa, stuff that makes you feel good, it makes you want to dance and sing. During the heat of the day impromptu music sessions took place between the dunes; ramshackle restaurants served interesting food and a makeshift market sold Tuareg knick-knacks.

For the Tuaregs, the festival is a time of reunions and rejoicing, seeing old friends and family, a chance to sit together and discuss Tuareg issues, sing and dance – some had traveled for up to 8 weeks across the Sahara to get to the festival, following the stars at night. Tuaregs don’t have furniture, so they use each other to lounge around on: tangled Tuareg “clumps” could be found sprawled in different places, chatting and drinking their favourite communal beverage, tea.

At night we enjoyed the amazing music and dance on the main stage from the natural amphitheatre of dunes, set under a starry African sky. An array of well-known African bands, plus the odd European band, played from late afternoon until the wee small hours. The audience was peaceful and attentive, clapping whilst mesmerized by the scenes on stage.

Wow. The lack of sleep made the whole experience seem like a dream. But it was a very good, exotic and unforgettable dream.

www.venusadventures.travel
info@venusadventures.travel
 




Return to Top
HOME | PRIVACY POLICY | ABOUT US | CONTACT US

©2008 www.sololady.com

Please credit sololady.com when sending out info from this site.


..