Senossa continued

As we got off the boat on the other side, some naked children ran up to us, some with potbellies and protruding belly buttons like hernias, and ushered us ashore. Had help from the bike-riding guy who spoke French and were taken to see the village chief to ask permission to look around. He was chilling out in the shade of quite a new building by the shore, but seemed happy to see us. He gave his permission and we thanked him profusely. Then some other man ran over to us, asking us to pay a tourist tax. After explaining that we'd already asked the chief (as well as a wink and smile from our friend from the boat), we told him we wouldn't be paying.

The man with the bike headed off, after we thanked him a lot, and we were escorted by dozens of children into the depths of the village, like the Pied Piper! The village had houses much like Djennè, with a similar mud architecture, but without any of the modern trappings. It was amazing to see this all by ourselves, without a guide, and without any put-on dances or 'traditional' events. This was just a normal day for the villagers and we saw all the usual things - women pounding millet (a cereal), washing, goats being taken to the river to drink and children running through the narrow lanes between houses.

However, these kids still shouted "Tuoab" and "Cadeau" (present) and were very annoying in the end. We walked around for about an hour in the sweltering heat, pausing for shade beside the mud walls. A few of the older children tried to be our tour guides for some money but we just wanted to wander around ourselves. There wasn't anyway this would happen, and so after seeing a couple of mud mosques, like Djennè but smaller, we played with some of the kids. Kez instigated it all (she loves the children!) and we did all the songs you do at school - Okey Cokey etc - and something called "The Penguin Dance"; ask Kez. All the kids loved it and we caused such a noise that people poked their heads over walls and around walls to see what the fuss was about.

We left the village the same way, after thanking the elders again, and headed across the 'moat' in the very low pirogue. It was better the second time around, but still quite nerve wracking! One funny moment was when we saw Barney's toilet roll floating past, after it had come loose from a side pocket. Looking around admiring the scenery, animals and plant life before saying "Oh, look at that....toilet roll...". On the other side, back on very dry land, we decided to rest under any shade we could find. The day was boiling hot, and we'd walked around over midday. We sat under a tree, played some cards and eventually had a small nap.

Got woken up by the sun, which had quickly moved over the tree, and carried on back to Djennè, breaking along the way in the same village to watch some young boys fishing. They were pretty good with only a line and some cockroaches for bait. Barney wanted to take a dip in the water, but we reminded him of bilharzia - a horrible disease caused by faeces in the water. No swimming yet!

That night we ate on the street (I had some mini fish that had been salted and fried, but we had a whole host of stall food including plantains and yam chips), and after watching a cool sunset over the rooftops of Djennè, we heard some loud music coming from the square behind the mosque. We went to check it out, thinking we could have a beer and a dance. There were about 300 people, some on chairs, some standing, in a large circle, with a hastily set up sound system - two speakers and some ancient decks. After half an hour of waiting (and me getting offered every drug going, but no beers), an M.C. called Michael Jackson introduced five dancers. Each came into the middle and did a five-second foot-jive, before the music cut out and they moved to one side. This happened for each guy, same piece of music. From what we gathered from a few English/French speakers was that this was a dance off. Awesome!

However, nothing else happened for an hour. Nothing at all. Then there was a scuffle on the other side of the circle and loads of people scattered. We heard different stories about what happened. Firstly, one guy said it was the police who had come to break up the gathering, but another guy said that the nightclub behind the square charged 1000 CFA entry that night. But the dance off was free, so all the youngsters obviously went for that. The nightclub apparently took offence at this and either sabotaged the music or started fights with the crowd/organisers.

Either way, we went to bed. Another night under the stars.