Christmas in Ouaga!

Merry Christmas everyone! We’ve had an interesting one, to say the least, spending Christmas day in OUAGADOUGOU (pronounced Wag-a-doo-goo). That’d be the capital of Burkina Faso - one of those must-do Christmas cities, I’m sure you’ll agree.

It’s been a pleasant festive period had by all, from checking out a whole load more coupe decale on the dancefloors of Bamako, and taking a trip to the great Mosque of Djenne, the largest mud brick building in the world and an architectural marvel. On our way to Ouaga (as it’s referred to by locals) we made our way through Dogon country, also in Mali. The area comprises a series of small villages situated in picturesque mountains, inhabited for many hundreds of years by the Dogon people. Best known for their mythology, mask dances, wooden sculpture and architecture, the culture is being kept alive but will be feeling both the positive and negative effects of its developing tourism industry, inviting tourists into their lives as they go about their daily business.

Before the Dogon arrived, the mountains were inhabited by the Tellem people who, apparently, were small red pigmies who could fly. I know, who would’ve thought!? Unfortunately didn’t spot any, not even with the side effects of the malaria tablets (google “larium”). We spent a couple of days there, trekking through the mountains, visiting the villages and camping under the stars. Unfortunately we never managed to achieve the Santa’s hat on a camel. But we gave it our best shot, before replacing the festive hats with those worn by locals which, in our opinion, could seriously take off back home.

In the meantime, we’ve decided not to go to the Festival in the Desert, which I’m GUTTED about but it makes sense. Aside from West Africa turning out to be a bit more expensive than we’d anticipated, we’re keen to get down to Ghana and crack on with the task in hand. We’ve found out about a business conference in Accra on the 30th that would be really beneficial for us to attend, as well as meeting up with a few key people who are in town over New Year. Plus, the fact that EVERY Westerner we spoke to on our travels, who was thinking about going to the festival, had pretty much decided not to due to a threat of being kidnapped...probably not a major concern but just another reason against us going (I’m sure I would’ve been fine putting on my best Ghanaian accent, but you never know...)

So, the time has come for us to enter Ghana...From all this research and preparation, we’re finally reaching the promised land and we can’t wait to start building the festival idea out here. We’ll be heading down to Accra for New Year, then basing ourselves in Kumasi, Ghana’s 2nd city, for a couple of weeks. And I think, finally....it’s all beginning to sink in. This is the last stop, and where we’ll be for the foreseeable future....can’t wait to tuck into my first bowl of FUFU!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE, and I hope you all have a wonderful new year...PEACE!XXX