The guitar I bought in Romsey during my idyllic stay in the Hampshire countryside in May 2007 (see blogs) was intended for this very purpose: the Griots of Djenné are giving a concert to last nights full dinner crowd at Djenné Djenno. It was a...

"I LEFT MY UMBRELLA IN BANJUL" said the dashing Nils, a British Mungo Park enthusiast of Norwegian/Asian parentage, who just spent a couple of days at the hotel, making me laugh. We decided it would be a good title for a a music hall sketch. He didn't...

And then this charming French amateur entymologist father and son team just left, having spent a couple of days happily hunting for insects in and around Djenné.

Africa never ceases to be extreme. It is extremely tiring, extremely frustrating, extremely infuriating. On the other hand it is also fantastic, exhilarating and filled to the brim with possibilities. Whether one catches the one side or the other...

Barry was doing a post-operative check-up on some patients, mainly women, whom he had operated for Trachoma, which is a serious eye disease which can cause blindness if not treated. The operations are very simple and more or less 100% successful....