Last night did not sleep as well as the first night. I got up early to have a shower but then returned to the roof to lie down for a bit longer. When everyone was up they all ordered food though I refused to pay for a breakfast that I do not really enjoy so I waited while they had their bread and tea/coffee.

I organised for the owner to do some of my laundry (Anne had done the same thing yesterday) so I should have some nice clean clothes over the next week or so. It will be quite nice. I left my pile with him to sort out while we left with Mohammed to continue our tour of the city.

We began the tour by walking past the university which is no longer a university but now used as a mosque then visited the museum which we thought would be interesting to visit so we went inside (they charge a small fee). In the compound of the museum we were shown the original “Tim-Bucto” (“Bucto” is the name of the lady owning the well and “Tim” means well). The museum itself had to be opened for us by the curator and was quite dusty and not very well used. It was quite interesting with a large number of small artefacts and displays. There were exhibits explaining about local music, architecture, and the history of the area including some pre-historic items. All was quite interesting though it was very stuffy and, as I said, dusty. Returning to the compound we visited a small stall in the corner selling souvenirs though after a sales pitch lasting for quite some time only Anne eventually bought a single post card.

After the museum we headed south again, this time to visit the Internet café which turns out to be right beside where we had a drink yesterday after visiting the post office. When we arrived we were informed that the man (I think owner) who is able to set everything up was not there and we would have to wait so we headed back to the bar from yesterday to wait. Of course, this was an invitation for some of the local Tuareg to once again try their luck with our group. Eventually at about 11:00 after about a two hour wait the lady in the café had the owner fetched from his home who then arrived to let us into the computer room. At 2,000 CFA an hour it is not terribly expensive but quite novel to use it here in Timbuktu.

Yesterday we could not really visit as I did not have an adapter that would allow me to transfer pictures to the computers so that we could e-mail them. Today I had the adapter though it took me much of the hour to find a computer that would allow me to transfer the pictures successfully due to the hodgepodge of equipment he had in the room. The good thing that although I was running around trying to get this to work I was cooled a bit by the air conditioning there. Eventually I was able to send some pictures to our friends and relatives with the pictures we had taken yesterday with the “Timbuktu” sign. Very nice.

12:30 and we returned to the market area in search of someone who would change some Euros for Anne as she was running a bit low on CFA and Ebrima also needed the clasp on his watch fixed. We were able to do both quite easily and also managed to purchase some mangoes.

It was now, of course, the heat of the day and we were, just like yesterday, out in it and quite some distance from the hotel. As we headed back we stopped to get some snacks for our long car journey tomorrow then we stopped for something to eat at the restaurant opposite the hotel. Eating spaghetti in Timbuktu. How novel.

Returning to the hotel we once again collapsed and waited for the heat to pass. 5:00 a man came to fetch us for our camel trip! The camels were waiting for us just beside the monument within sight of the hotel. Chris and Sue had decided to join us though they also admitted (as I was suggesting also) that it was quite a “tourist thing to do”.

I admit that I had a bit of kick over the whole thing. The camels were waiting sitting down with their guides standing beside holding the reins. They showed us how to swing our leg over the saddle then the camel would get up – first one set of legs then the other leading us to lean precariously forward and back. The others seemed to also have no problems as we all boarded our transport. Heading out the gait of the camel was quite interesting and it seemed to me to be terribly non-symmetrical, that is, you could not really predict the pattern of movement though I found simply relaxing the body and going with the movement was a definite help. It was bad going down a dune though as you leaned backwards a fair amount.

We headed out past the area Chris, Sue and I had visited the other day (incidentally the Tuareg that joined us that first day was part of the caravan as well) then stopped only a short distance out but still within sight of the city. There the camels crumpled down and we got off so that our guides could brew some Ataya (West African-style tea that we also have in The Gambia, very sweet with half sugar and half tea composition). We each headed off in different directions to enjoy the view that was spectacular though eventually we were joined by our guides attempting to sell us various things. I did, I admit, purchase a number of things I hope to give as gifts at Christmas while our guides showed us what the various markings meant on them. This spoiled the trip a bit for me never mind the fact that an hour out of the two we paid for was spent in this pursuit.

Having had our two or three small glasses of tea we once more boarded our transport back to the city. It was beginning to get a bit dark but we were surprised to pass through a small swarm of locusts coloured bright yellow. They were covering some of the shrubs that our guides would shake to scare the swarm head off in impressive clouds.

We spotted a dead donkey on the way back to the city which actually brought to mind an incident from yesterday just outside of our hotel where we had spotted a large number of children pulling a dead donkey along the street towards the desert. I guess this is where it ended up. This incident, of course, has sparked over the past few days many quips about “Drop the Dead Donkey” (an older UK television show) and other such banal jokes.

The trip was over far too soon as the camels once again returned to the ground to let us off. The guides wanted a bit of money for their excellent skills (!) at guiding the placid camels for our enjoyment as well as a bit of money for the tea. It seems that our agreed price should have included that but never mind…

We once again retired to our local restaurant for dinner. “Ne pas Jus de Pommes” disappointed me greatly – the young men serving us knew me by this point and knew that I would a “Jus de Pommes” (actually they tend to shout “Jus de Pommes” and point at me whenever I enter the restaurant which is a bit disconcerting).

It is very windy on the roof tonight and I don't know if I will be able to sleep very well. Perhaps a sandstorm is coming? It is a shame that we will be leaving tomorrow as it has been a very interesting visit. From now on we are basically working our way back to The Gambia – though taking a roundabout way and also taking our time.

Once again my friends from the rooms below have figured that the roof will be a much more comfortable place and have joined me.

⇒ Continue to Day 16 - Monday, August 2nd, 2004