Sahara Passion

We arrived at Kabara, the closest river port to Timbuktu, at around half eleven, after a very tedious float up a shallow channel that had been filled in completely by the harmattan (desert winds) in previous years. There were so many people on the small dock that we couldn't see the quayside itself! After fighting through the crowds, we discovered that most were there to try and give some of the Tuobab's (foreigners) a lift to Timbuktu, 20km away. Sam trying to get his motorbike off the bottom deck and up the steep bank caused a bit of alarm, the crowd scattering as he fired through and then playing with the lights and throttle when Sam got off.

Dree had been able to borrow a phone and call ahead to Sahara Passion, a small campement on the far north of the town, to let them know we were going to be late. The man on the phone had said "We'll wait for you". We assumed this to mean that they would stay awake for our arrival, but after we took a 4x4 taxi into town we were flagged down by a man in a Sahelian outfit (long flowing robes with a 3m long headscarf to cope with the wind and dust), who turned out to be the owner of Sahara Passion; a Tuareg man called Shindouke.

We eventually got to the accommodation at just past midnight, after Sam had a bit of trouble of the deep sand where there road stopped, to find a fire burning and African tea on the go. We were shown to our rooms, which were in a dorm-type building, but as there were six of us altogether we filled it! We sat outside under the stars (ridiculously clear as there was almost no light, bar the fire) and drank rounds of tea whilst Shindouke and his partner Miranda, a Canadian, chatted to us. I don't know if I have already explained about African tea - there are basically three pourings, the third of which is meant to be the very best.

So we all sat around the fire, Miranda cuddling their year-old son Najim, who was pretty sleepy, but could be the cutest little kid in the world (Tilly's words, but I'd agree), while we exchanged details about where we were from and what we did back at home etc. After a while Shindouke started to regail us with a story that his ancestors told him, in French. But all was good as Miranda kindly translated everything. I will not try and do the story justice here, as I will massacre it, but for my records it was about the path of wisdom and happiness, and the encounter of the rabbit with arrows in it, elephant with the tiniest thorn, most beautiful cow and the wise older man. Sorry that doesn't make sense to anyone else! The telling of the story was possibly the best thing, with Shindouke dramatically retelling line by line in French, and Miranda very kindly translating for us.

Shindouke was about fifty and was a Tuareg, nomadic tribesperson, who took over Sahara Passion (SP from now on) after the Swiss lady who begun it returned to Switzerland. He was head of the official guides in Timbuktu and had contacts across the town, which came in VERY handy for us. Moreover, he was the head of his own tribe in the desert and owned camels and horses. After a few more hours chatting away, we eventually went to bed about 2:30am, a great end to an incredibly long day!