0:00:40 > 0:00:44Well, welcome to the 3 o'clock ferry
0:00:44 > 0:00:48from Rosso in Mauritania over to Senegal.
0:00:48 > 0:00:53We're crossing one of the great rivers of the Sahara - the Senegal.
0:00:53 > 0:01:01It's 1,000 miles long. But it's not just a border between Mauritania, which we've just left, and Senegal.
0:01:01 > 0:01:05It also demarcates the two sides of the Sahara -
0:01:05 > 0:01:07the Arab north and the black south.
0:01:07 > 0:01:10From now on, we're in black Africa.
0:01:43 > 0:01:47Just before it reaches the Atlantic Ocean,
0:01:47 > 0:01:52the Senegal River swells into a wide estuary. Everything has changed.
0:01:52 > 0:01:57Sand is replaced by water. Tents are replaced by warehouses.
0:01:57 > 0:02:02And where there was only camel meat, there's fresh smoked fish everywhere.
0:02:02 > 0:02:05This is St Louis in Senegal.
0:02:05 > 0:02:09It was founded by the French over 350 years ago -
0:02:09 > 0:02:14the cornerstone of their African empire, built in their own likeness.
0:02:14 > 0:02:19Stepping off the boat is still like stepping into provincial France.
0:02:21 > 0:02:26It's amazing how little we know about other countries' heroes.
0:02:26 > 0:02:33In the 1920s and '30s, the French were absolutely captivated by the exploits of the daring young pilots
0:02:33 > 0:02:41who made long solo flights, day and night, to bring mail from France to West Africa and on to South America.
0:02:41 > 0:02:46One of the most famous of these was Jean Mermoz,
0:02:46 > 0:02:53and when he disappeared into the Atlantic in December 1936, at the age of 36, all of France mourned.
0:02:53 > 0:02:57Mermoz spent his last night here in the Hotel de la Poste, St Louis.
0:02:57 > 0:03:02'Senegal has been independent since 1960,
0:03:02 > 0:03:07'but seems to be in no hurry to shake off the French connection.'
0:03:07 > 0:03:13Ah! Combien est Le Monde, s'il vous plait? Neuf?
0:03:13 > 0:03:20'By sad coincidence, today's headlines mark the death of another French hero, singer Charles Trenet.'
0:03:20 > 0:03:23Merci. "Charles Trenet est mort."
0:03:23 > 0:03:26# La mer, da-da-da-dee... #
0:03:33 > 0:03:39There's no shortage of guides to show you round the town.
0:03:39 > 0:03:44But a pony and trap can quickly become a pony and tourist trap.
0:03:44 > 0:03:49I want to look beyond the colonial picturesque for modern Senegal.
0:03:49 > 0:03:56I make for the home of Jacob Yakouba, one of Senegal's best-known artists.
0:03:57 > 0:04:04Jacob's particular genre is the lightly clad female, preferably quite young.
0:04:07 > 0:04:12'His greatest inspiration is his glamorous wife, Marie Madeleine,
0:04:12 > 0:04:17'an actress and star of Senegal's most popular TV soap.
0:04:17 > 0:04:23'Over a communal platter of fish balls in a spicy stew, I ask her about her role.'
0:04:23 > 0:04:29- La television?- Oui.- On traite un petit peu d'un probleme...
0:04:29 > 0:04:34- On a pris comme pretexte un probleme religieux...- Oui?- Oui!
0:04:34 > 0:04:38- A religious problem, discussed... - Voila, qui s'appelle Bara Saudi.
0:04:38 > 0:04:43In the soap opera, the great sort of Senegalese EastEnders,
0:04:43 > 0:04:49of which Marie Madeleine is the star, she marries a man and he has an affair and divorces her.
0:04:49 > 0:04:54She wants to remarry him, and she remarries him three times, I think,
0:04:54 > 0:04:59and that's, um, the maximum you're allowed to divorce and remarry.
0:04:59 > 0:05:05After that, she wants to stay with him, so he asks her if she will marry his best friend.
0:05:05 > 0:05:07Something like that, anyway.
0:05:07 > 0:05:15- ..Et moi, j'ai dis non, meme si d'Islam demande d'etre une femme soumise...- A submissive wife?
0:05:15 > 0:05:19Oui, oui, oui. Alors, moi, je me suis revolte.
0:05:19 > 0:05:26- So, Marie Madeleine, you are a liberated woman on the television? Femme liberee?- Femme liberee.
0:05:26 > 0:05:30'Jacob doesn't seem quite so sure about this.
0:05:30 > 0:05:33'I inquire if polygamy is common.'
0:05:33 > 0:05:38- Il y a beaucoup...- A lot of polygamy? - JACOB:- Moi, j'ai choisi monogamie.
0:05:38 > 0:05:41- You've chosen monogamy?- Yes!
0:05:41 > 0:05:44WOMEN LAUGH
0:05:44 > 0:05:46And me!
0:05:46 > 0:05:53- A good example.- I'm afraid! - Oh, you're afraid! Afraid?! Oh, wow! You? Look at you!
0:05:53 > 0:05:56- Would you let...? - She is my commander!
0:05:56 > 0:06:01'Would Marie Madeleine, I wondered, allow Jacob to have another wife?'
0:06:01 > 0:06:05- Jamais! Never!- OK! That's clear.
0:06:07 > 0:06:11160 miles south of St Louis is a small island,
0:06:11 > 0:06:15which, because of safe moorings and easy defences,
0:06:15 > 0:06:21became the most successful trading centre in West Africa. It's called Goree.
0:06:23 > 0:06:27Goree is still prosperous and attractive,
0:06:27 > 0:06:31but its beauty conceals an ugly past.
0:06:33 > 0:06:38The island of Goree could really be any tourist trap on the French Riviera.
0:06:38 > 0:06:43But it owes its popularity almost entirely to its infamous reputation
0:06:43 > 0:06:49as a departure point for millions of slaves, taken from the interior,
0:06:49 > 0:06:56from the Sahara area, and shipped out to the plantations in America by the English, French and Portuguese.
0:06:56 > 0:07:00WHIPLASHES
0:07:09 > 0:07:15No-one knows exactly how many slaves the Europeans bought from African traders and shipped out of Goree.
0:07:15 > 0:07:20But here in the grounds of the old governor's mansion,
0:07:20 > 0:07:25they're rehearsing a dance which commemorates the sufferings of many millions.
0:07:45 > 0:07:50This, and other dances like it, will be performed for thousands of Afro-Americans
0:07:50 > 0:07:56who visit Goree each year in search of explanations and, if possible,
0:07:56 > 0:08:02comfort from seeing the place where their ancestors had THEIR last sight of Africa.
0:08:13 > 0:08:18For me, it's time to turn away from the sea and back into Africa.
0:08:18 > 0:08:25First stop, the Senegalese capital of Dakar - a city of inexhaustible energy.
0:08:25 > 0:08:29Wrestling is the most popular sport in Senegal,
0:08:29 > 0:08:34and tonight, a crowd hails the pan-African champion, Morf Adan.
0:08:34 > 0:08:39Stars like him can fill stadiums. Tonight, he's in his own back yard
0:08:39 > 0:08:42to inspire the local boys.
0:08:48 > 0:08:53I catch up with the great man - and some sheep - in his courtyard.
0:08:53 > 0:08:59He does make money from wrestling, but he spends most of it on his entourage. Shepherds, probably!
0:08:59 > 0:09:04Outside, the champions of the future are giving it their all.
0:09:04 > 0:09:09Morf explains you need only get your opponent's shoulders on the ground,
0:09:09 > 0:09:14so a bout can last anything from five seconds to...maybe seven!
0:09:22 > 0:09:29There's such a crowd of competitors it looks as though it could go on all night,
0:09:29 > 0:09:35so I make my apologies and slip away. Easier said than done!
0:09:42 > 0:09:44APPLAUSE
0:09:48 > 0:09:54Wrestling is not the only alternative to an early night.
0:09:54 > 0:09:59Dakar has a booming music scene, and at a jazz club near the fish market
0:09:59 > 0:10:05the band includes not only locals, but an American ex-pat - Tom Vahle.
0:10:11 > 0:10:16Clubs here, they're kind of... they're...they're kind of, you know,
0:10:16 > 0:10:24- they're not so sure if they want to hire a band that doesn't play the local Senegalese music.- Right.
0:10:24 > 0:10:29- Do you think I need some? Well, thank you very much.- You're welcome.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33Must be something I didn't...
0:10:33 > 0:10:36- Ah, the manager!- Bee-ba-da-ba-da!
0:10:36 > 0:10:39How long have you run this club?
0:10:39 > 0:10:45- Three months and 21 days. - Is it different from other clubs you've managed?
0:10:45 > 0:10:48- Yeah.- Why? How different?
0:10:48 > 0:10:55- The other clubs, they were rectangular.- Oh! That wasn't the answer I expected!
0:10:55 > 0:10:59- But I like that! - I need space.- You need space.
0:10:59 > 0:11:04- I am Lebou from my own origin. - You are...?- I need to see this...
0:11:04 > 0:11:10- Lebou.- Lebou is a fishing caste.- Oh, right. You're from the fishing...
0:11:10 > 0:11:16- Those kind of people are mine. - Were you a fisherman at one time? - I don't catch any fish!
0:11:18 > 0:11:22- I can throw it, but nothing is coming, man!- Right!
0:11:22 > 0:11:30- It's a great evening. Thank you very much indeed.- Great. Good luck to you. According to my age...
0:11:30 > 0:11:35- According to my age...- What is your age? I can't believe it. 38?- No, no!
0:11:35 > 0:11:37- 38? Are you crazy?- Yes, I'm crazy.
0:11:37 > 0:11:40I am 60 years old, man.
0:11:40 > 0:11:45- 60.- 60 years old?- Six-o. - You're just about my age, really.
0:11:45 > 0:11:52- No, no, no. I am older than you. - You're well preserved.- He's 60 going on 20!- How do you stay in shape?
0:11:52 > 0:11:55(I make love every single night!)
0:11:55 > 0:11:57Yes, well, I try to, but...!
0:11:57 > 0:12:02- No, you cannot say it. You don't say it.- I won't say it.
0:12:02 > 0:12:09- Certainly not.- That's it. - Every single night, he, um...gets some exercise!
0:12:14 > 0:12:17Next morning,
0:12:17 > 0:12:23it's time to get myself and what remains of my brain cells away from the fleshpots of Dakar.
0:12:23 > 0:12:29Conveniently, the French built a railway to connect the coast with the centre of their African empire.
0:12:31 > 0:12:33'This is the Bamako Express,
0:12:33 > 0:12:38'one of two trains a week between Dakar and the capital of Mali.
0:12:38 > 0:12:43'There's a nasty rumour going round it might leave on time.'
0:12:43 > 0:12:48Having followed the desert to its western limits on the Atlantic,
0:12:48 > 0:12:50and tasted big-city life in Dakar,
0:12:50 > 0:12:55we're now going to explore the desert to the east,
0:12:55 > 0:13:01through the city that is more synonymous with the Sahara than any other - the city of Timbuktu.
0:13:01 > 0:13:06The roads are lousy, so we're taking the train to Bamako in Mali.
0:13:06 > 0:13:09A mere 36 hours...if it's on time!
0:13:25 > 0:13:30We shall rely on the railway to take us 1,000 miles into the interior,
0:13:30 > 0:13:33then on the steam ferry service
0:13:33 > 0:13:38to carry us up the Niger River to our destination - Timbuktu.
0:13:52 > 0:13:54Sheep absolutely everywhere.
0:13:54 > 0:13:57They seem to have overrun the city.
0:13:57 > 0:14:01Either they're very, very fond of sheep,
0:14:01 > 0:14:08or there's some sort of sheep convention, but everywhere... Here's some more coming up here.
0:14:08 > 0:14:12Rather well fed, rather well looked after.
0:14:12 > 0:14:16There they are, nuzzling round the old container.
0:14:16 > 0:14:21It's most odd. I've never seen so many sheep in one place in my life.
0:14:21 > 0:14:26I'm a bit of a sheep man. Well...I like them!
0:14:26 > 0:14:28Just...
0:14:28 > 0:14:31in an aesthetic way!
0:14:31 > 0:14:36No more... Not their little, fluffy tails and...
0:14:36 > 0:14:39bummy bits!
0:14:42 > 0:14:44The city sprawls on.
0:14:44 > 0:14:49Over two million people are crammed into Dakar and its suburbs.
0:14:49 > 0:14:57Many come in from the countryside, preferring safety in numbers to the hardships of wind and drought.
0:15:03 > 0:15:09This is amazing. It's the most extraordinary shopping mall in the world!
0:15:09 > 0:15:14It runs for about a mile beside the train here, and everything is here.
0:15:14 > 0:15:20Over there you've got people actually making the things, wholesale, and retail down here.
0:15:20 > 0:15:26It's like a huge department store - you've got handbags, ladies' underwear...food hall!
0:15:33 > 0:15:36WHISTLE BLOWS
0:15:39 > 0:15:43The train never goes much above a stately 30mph,
0:15:43 > 0:15:48allowing plenty of time to admire the ubiquitous baobab trees.
0:15:48 > 0:15:55Its branches are so much like roots, legend has it the devil shoved them in the ground upside down.
0:15:58 > 0:16:04'The train is packed - largely, it seems, with women,
0:16:04 > 0:16:08'all decked out in striking West African style.
0:16:10 > 0:16:13'I get talking to one of them,
0:16:13 > 0:16:20'an English teacher called Dhadi, on the perennial topic of husbands and wives and how many of each.'
0:16:20 > 0:16:27Before Islam, you know, polygamy existed in traditional society, you see.
0:16:27 > 0:16:32And they said, OK, the man can marry up to four wives,
0:16:32 > 0:16:38so that they can work on the fields, you know, they can help each other.
0:16:38 > 0:16:41That was the idea, you see.
0:16:41 > 0:16:44And then Islam entered Africa.
0:16:44 > 0:16:49And men said that OK, the Koran says that since we are Muslim,
0:16:49 > 0:16:52we can marry up to four wives.
0:16:52 > 0:16:59- What do you think of this? Do you approve of that?- Let me tell you something. I am against that.
0:16:59 > 0:17:03- I thought you might be. - I am against that.
0:17:03 > 0:17:08Well, that's my opinion. I am against... And I know why.
0:17:08 > 0:17:10Why?
0:17:10 > 0:17:14Let's say, first of all, I am jealous.
0:17:14 > 0:17:17Of the other wives?
0:17:17 > 0:17:19I don't wanna share my husband.
0:17:19 > 0:17:25And second, in every polygamist's house,
0:17:25 > 0:17:28there is always trouble.
0:17:28 > 0:17:33Because co-wives, you know, are jealous.
0:17:33 > 0:17:37Sometimes they finish before the judge,
0:17:37 > 0:17:42and every day, either in Senegal or in Mali,
0:17:42 > 0:17:47because most of the time the husband, you know, has one house,
0:17:47 > 0:17:52and all the four wives, they live, you know, in the same house.
0:17:52 > 0:17:56And, you know, you can't imagine that.
0:17:56 > 0:18:00Sometimes one of the wives can go to the marabout and try to do juju...
0:18:00 > 0:18:05- The marabout is...?- Well, he's a kind of a priest, you know?
0:18:05 > 0:18:11You go to see them... He's a seer, he can predict the future,
0:18:11 > 0:18:15and also he can make some juju, sometimes.
0:18:15 > 0:18:20Every wife would like the man to love her better,
0:18:20 > 0:18:26and they put some powder in the food, or in the water, you know, things like that.
0:18:26 > 0:18:28Or, sometimes,
0:18:28 > 0:18:35when one of the wives is sick, for example, she's gonna say, "That's my co-wife. She's a witch."
0:18:35 > 0:18:42Superstition, juju and black magic remain powerful forces out here.
0:18:45 > 0:18:48Qu'est-ce qu'est le plus long...?
0:18:48 > 0:18:54'At supper, I get down to more mundane considerations, like when the train will arrive.
0:18:54 > 0:18:58'I ask my businessman friend if it's often late.
0:18:58 > 0:19:04'"Well," he explains diplomatically, "instances of it arriving on time are very rare."
0:19:04 > 0:19:07'Like the cutlery!'
0:19:07 > 0:19:09Well...
0:19:09 > 0:19:13- We have no...- Yes. Mmm.
0:19:23 > 0:19:25Early next day, we cross into Mali.
0:19:25 > 0:19:32Borders aren't taken that seriously here. The main tribal groups are spread across several countries.
0:19:32 > 0:19:39But the landscape IS different. Flat Senegal gives way to the rocky escarpments of Mali.
0:19:39 > 0:19:43The heat builds, making concentration difficult.
0:19:43 > 0:19:48Time drags on, and as we climb, we seem to be going slower than ever.
0:19:48 > 0:19:51WHISTLE BLOWS
0:19:58 > 0:20:04Well, we've now completed 33 hours of the supposedly 35-hour journey,
0:20:04 > 0:20:11but we seem to be becalmed here at some station on the way. We're still ten hours away from Bamako.
0:20:11 > 0:20:16We stopped because this train was on the single-track line.
0:20:16 > 0:20:21But our progress is a matter of considerable chance at the moment -
0:20:21 > 0:20:26whether it'll take 10 hours, or 15 or 20. It's in the lap of the gods.
0:20:26 > 0:20:29Well...
0:20:29 > 0:20:32- Hello! Hello!- Hello!
0:20:32 > 0:20:34Bye-bye!
0:20:34 > 0:20:39It's always a good sign when we're actually moving - very encouraging.
0:20:39 > 0:20:44There's a cloud of dust up in front. I can't quite see the engine.
0:20:44 > 0:20:49But we ARE on the move, and we're heading towards Bamako,
0:20:49 > 0:20:51and we're only ten hours late.
0:20:54 > 0:20:58'I think that calls for some sort of celebration!'
0:20:58 > 0:21:02Une biere, s'il vous plait. ..Merci.
0:21:02 > 0:21:07That's 500 back, so that's about... 50 pence for a beer.
0:21:07 > 0:21:10Not bad.
0:21:10 > 0:21:15I never quite understand, in Islamic countries, whether they allow bars.
0:21:15 > 0:21:22But obviously this train is kind of typical of the tolerance found in Mauritania, Senegal and now Mali.
0:21:22 > 0:21:29They don't seem to be too fierce about applying the rules. If you want a beer, you can have a beer.
0:21:44 > 0:21:49After a second, unscheduled night on the train,
0:21:49 > 0:21:56during which water and most other supplies fail, we finally pull into Bamako just before dawn.
0:21:56 > 0:22:01I love travel. I love the promise of new places and new faces.
0:22:01 > 0:22:07But I must admit that on Bamako Station this morning, my mask of optimism is travel-worn.
0:22:07 > 0:22:12The only good thing about this moment is we actually got to Bamako.
0:22:12 > 0:22:19- It's 5am. I feel dazed and confused. But there are a lot of people here to help(!)- Yeah.- Au revoir.
0:22:19 > 0:22:22- Where you come from? - I don't know. Not a clue!
0:22:22 > 0:22:25Mademoiselle!
0:22:29 > 0:22:33A shower, a shave and a change of underwear later,
0:22:33 > 0:22:37I feel a joie de vivre slowly returning.
0:22:37 > 0:22:42Just as well. The streets of Bamako are not for the faint-hearted!
0:22:56 > 0:22:58'I take refuge at a local cafe.
0:22:58 > 0:23:04'The proprietor promises to fix me something like a double espresso.'
0:23:06 > 0:23:11Well, I feel a lot better now. Shave, clean shirt and all that.
0:23:11 > 0:23:15There's the station. We arrived in the dead of night.
0:23:15 > 0:23:22Next to the station is the Hotel de la Gare, where a group called the Rail Band used to meet.
0:23:22 > 0:23:29The Rail Band was begun by Toumani Diabate, a musician whose album I've been playing for three months.
0:23:29 > 0:23:36It's wonderful music - a fusion between traditional African and contemporary music.
0:23:36 > 0:23:43And Toumani lives and works in Bamako, so I'm hoping I'll be able to see him while I'm here,
0:23:43 > 0:23:46and see how he makes the music.
0:23:46 > 0:23:49RAPPING IN FRENCH
0:23:49 > 0:23:51Toumani is not just a musician.
0:23:51 > 0:23:58He's also a producer, and that evening I track him down to the club where he's watching his new rap act.
0:23:58 > 0:24:06The message of their latest track is, believe it or not, getting kids to go to school.
0:24:13 > 0:24:19Later in the evening, Toumani takes to the stage with his own band.
0:24:23 > 0:24:28The rhythms and instruments are solidly traditional,
0:24:28 > 0:24:30featuring the lute-like ngoni
0:24:30 > 0:24:36the harp-like kora... and the balafon.
0:24:44 > 0:24:49Music like this has put Mali on the world map,
0:24:49 > 0:24:54and it enabled Toumani to show me round his home city in some style.
0:24:58 > 0:25:03On the way to his home, we passed the Great Mosque in the city centre,
0:25:03 > 0:25:06then, in the market, a fetish stall,
0:25:06 > 0:25:11of shrunken animal heads, shows that Islam has to coexist with voodoo.
0:25:11 > 0:25:16But the day's great treat for me is a masterclass with the man himself.
0:25:19 > 0:25:27When did you start mixing the kora, the traditional instrument, with the more contemporary ones like guitar?
0:25:27 > 0:25:32First of all, is to start with traditional sound.
0:25:32 > 0:25:37From there, I was listening to James Brown's music, to Otis Redding's,
0:25:37 > 0:25:41to Jimi Hendrix, to Johnny Hallyday also, Salif Keita.
0:25:41 > 0:25:48And so I said, "Oh, well, the kora must be... I have to open a new door for the kora.
0:25:48 > 0:25:51"A universal door for the kora."
0:25:51 > 0:25:54Did your father approve of that?
0:25:54 > 0:26:00Yes. At the beginning, he said, "Oh! Look - the children, they are changing everything!"
0:26:00 > 0:26:06So I told him - we had a nice meeting about that -
0:26:06 > 0:26:12I said, "Look, I am not changing the kora, I am just developing the kora."
0:26:23 > 0:26:29'Kora-playing, like so much else in Malian life, is rich in history.
0:26:29 > 0:26:36'Toumani's family have been kora players for 72 consecutive generations.'
0:27:06 > 0:27:11'400 miles from Bamako lives one of Africa's most extraordinary tribes.
0:27:11 > 0:27:16'This is Tirelli, one of the villages of the Dogon people.
0:27:16 > 0:27:20'600 years ago, they retreated here from the Islamic invasions,
0:27:20 > 0:27:25'and remained, until recently, cut off from the world.
0:27:25 > 0:27:28'Today, the headman of the village welcomes us.'
0:27:28 > 0:27:31Thank you for letting us into your home.
0:27:31 > 0:27:36He said, "You are welcome. Make yourself at home."
0:27:36 > 0:27:41How many wives and children does the chief have?
0:27:49 > 0:27:55- Two wives and ten children. - Wow! That's a handful.
0:27:55 > 0:28:00The Dogon culture looks as if it hasn't changed for many centuries.
0:28:00 > 0:28:05Is it changing fast now that the outside world is taking an interest?
0:28:08 > 0:28:13'Amadou, my Dogon guide, translates for the village chief.
0:28:13 > 0:28:20'"Because we were cut off from the world for so long, we developed our own way of looking at the universe."
0:28:20 > 0:28:28'Using the carvings on one of his granary doors, he explains how the Dogon believe the world was created.
0:28:28 > 0:28:36'The god Amma first created the sun, moon and stars, then the Earth in the shape of a woman,
0:28:36 > 0:28:41'with an anthole for her vagina and a termite mound for her clitoris.
0:28:41 > 0:28:48'He tried to make love to her, but the termite mound blocked his path, so he removed it.
0:28:48 > 0:28:54'He tried again, and this time twins were born. They were half-man, half-snake,
0:28:54 > 0:28:57'and lived in the heavens.
0:28:57 > 0:29:03'Amma then made a human couple, who had eight ancestors from whom all of us are made.'
0:29:06 > 0:29:08And so you have also...
0:29:08 > 0:29:13'I'm still trying to get my head round all this,
0:29:13 > 0:29:19'when Amadou tells me the Dogon were not the first people to colonise the escarpment.
0:29:19 > 0:29:24'Before them came the Tellem, who lived on the cliff face itself.'
0:29:24 > 0:29:30- ..Become now a tomb, where they bury the Dogon people, if someone dies... - On the cliff?- Yes, up there.
0:29:30 > 0:29:38'The Tellem clearly preferred high-rise living, relying on ropes to get in and out of their homes.
0:29:38 > 0:29:45'It seems incredible that people should have fought each other to live in such a bleak place,
0:29:45 > 0:29:50'until you remember that 500 years ago, the whole area was forest.'
0:29:52 > 0:29:55'An echo of those more fertile times
0:29:55 > 0:30:00'is the status Dogon society still accords to the hunter.'
0:30:14 > 0:30:19Terrific! This is the greeting - they go through the entire family.
0:30:19 > 0:30:24Yes, this is a greeting. And we have to ask everyone, one by one.
0:30:24 > 0:30:29Someone of them ask, "How are your donkey? How are your cow?"
0:30:29 > 0:30:34It's funny, you know, but this is polite. You have to ask everything.
0:30:34 > 0:30:40Tell him that I don't know any Dogon at the moment, so I just say ca va?
0:30:40 > 0:30:47- What do they hunt here?- Here, him hunting monkeys, wild rat and dog.
0:30:47 > 0:30:50- Do you eat much meat here? - Oh, yes, yes.
0:30:50 > 0:30:55When they are hunting and they kill animals, they eat a lot of meat.
0:30:55 > 0:31:00Sometimes, if they didn't find animals, they kill a sheep or a goat.
0:31:00 > 0:31:08- A rat? Do they have a bit of rat every now and then?- Yes, they find sometimes rats on the rocks.
0:31:08 > 0:31:15- The rat they are hunting up there on the rocks, and the monkeys and the dog, antelope...- Does he shoot them?
0:31:15 > 0:31:21- Or does he...? Oh!- This is something he had to kill monkeys...
0:31:21 > 0:31:23A monkey that's seen better days.
0:31:26 > 0:31:31- Right.- This is a monkey's head. - Yes. Can he show me?
0:31:36 > 0:31:40I see! That's gunpowder - made here?
0:31:40 > 0:31:43Yes, made here. Local gunpowder.
0:31:43 > 0:31:49- Yeah. What is it?- It makes, I think... This is local gunpowder.
0:31:49 > 0:31:52Oh, wow! So he...
0:31:54 > 0:31:57Well away from them!
0:31:58 > 0:32:01GUN FAILS TO GO OFF...TWICE
0:32:01 > 0:32:04- Oh!- Oh!
0:32:04 > 0:32:06INTERPRETER ADVISES
0:32:06 > 0:32:09GUN FAILS AGAIN
0:32:09 > 0:32:14- The monkey's positively cheering up! - GUN FAILS AGAIN
0:32:32 > 0:32:35Right. Here we go again.
0:32:36 > 0:32:39Oomph!
0:32:39 > 0:32:42Oh-oh-oh...!
0:32:42 > 0:32:47- It's OK...- He's OK!- I just got a blast right across my face.
0:32:47 > 0:32:49It's OK. I know how you feel now!
0:32:49 > 0:32:54- Me too!- Well, it worked! I think I preferred it when it WASN'T working!
0:32:54 > 0:33:02'Having survived the hunter, I now have to survive a lunch of goat, millet and baobab leaf.'
0:33:02 > 0:33:07- OK, so we just...- Help yourself. - ..grab in? Ow! Ooh, it's hot!
0:33:07 > 0:33:10It's hot - very hot. Slowly.
0:33:12 > 0:33:14- It's very hot.- Yeah.
0:33:14 > 0:33:21- And people say you cannot be a strong man if you... - Oh! Well, I'm past all that now!
0:33:22 > 0:33:25You have to eat when it is very hot.
0:33:31 > 0:33:34This is the local food.
0:33:34 > 0:33:41It's really good, but I can't emphasise how hot it is on the end of your fingers.
0:33:41 > 0:33:46I don't know how they eat it. My tender, artistic little digits!
0:33:46 > 0:33:53'It's not just the food that's hot, it's the temperature outside - 56 centigrade at midday.
0:33:53 > 0:33:55'That's 134 Fahrenheit!
0:33:55 > 0:33:58'It's the hottest meal of my life.'
0:34:04 > 0:34:11The straw-capped granaries that dot the village contain the millet on which the Dogon diet depends.
0:34:11 > 0:34:18Equally important to their way of life are weapons, door latches and assorted ironmongery
0:34:18 > 0:34:23produced by the blacksmith with the help of his seven-year-old daughter.
0:34:32 > 0:34:37The blacksmith is one of the most important men of the village.
0:34:37 > 0:34:42In Dogon folklore, the first blacksmith stole the fire from God.
0:34:42 > 0:34:47His duties extend beyond making things, as Amadou explains to me.
0:34:47 > 0:34:55So now, another importance of the blacksmith, when they must do a circumcision in a village.
0:34:55 > 0:34:57- Circumcision?- Yes, circumcision.
0:34:57 > 0:35:03The blacksmith use his own knife to cut the sex of the boys.
0:35:03 > 0:35:08- The blacksmith actually does the circumcision?- Yes.
0:35:08 > 0:35:12And the blacksmith women do the excision for girls.
0:35:12 > 0:35:17- Is female circumcision still common here?- Yes. They still partake.
0:35:17 > 0:35:20They still do it in a village.
0:35:20 > 0:35:28- So most of the girls in this village here will have been circumcised? - All of the girls. All of the girls.
0:35:33 > 0:35:37A COCK CROWS
0:35:41 > 0:35:43So...
0:35:43 > 0:35:46a termite mound...
0:35:46 > 0:35:48..and the ants below...
0:35:48 > 0:35:53'I'm not the first one to try and make some sense of all this.
0:35:53 > 0:35:58'There's a joke that runs, "How many are there in a Dogon family?
0:35:58 > 0:36:03'"Five - two parents, two children and one French anthropologist."'
0:36:05 > 0:36:10In Dogon country, absolutely nothing is what you expect it to be.
0:36:10 > 0:36:15This maniacally joyful dance is celebrating a funeral.
0:36:38 > 0:36:45I know it's a cliche to say that you've found somewhere different from the rest of the world,
0:36:45 > 0:36:49but in this village of Tirelli in Dogon country, it's true.
0:36:49 > 0:36:55The way of life here and the reason for the way of life here
0:36:55 > 0:37:02is quite unlike anything I've ever seen before, and I will never see anywhere like this again.
0:37:02 > 0:37:07They've been very, very good friends - very good hosts.
0:37:07 > 0:37:10But don't tell anyone!
0:37:10 > 0:37:13FUNERAL DRUMMING CONTINUES
0:37:25 > 0:37:27The ancient town of Djenne,
0:37:27 > 0:37:34circled by the waters of the Bani River, is our next stop on the road to Timbuktu.
0:37:34 > 0:37:37I've hired a mobilette
0:37:37 > 0:37:45to drive myself around what many consider to be the most beautiful of all the cities of the Sahara.
0:37:45 > 0:37:53The mosque at Djenne is an architectural marvel - the largest mud-built structure in the world.
0:37:53 > 0:37:57The streets are fine examples of mud as an art form -
0:37:57 > 0:38:05graceful and stylish, qualities which in Mali are not confined to the buildings.
0:38:16 > 0:38:20'Djenne doubles its size on market days.
0:38:20 > 0:38:25'I'm shown around by Amadou Cisse, known to the world as Pygmy.'
0:38:25 > 0:38:33- What tribe or people are you from? - I am half Fulani.- Half Fulani? What's the other half?- My father,
0:38:33 > 0:38:37- the other half, is Songhai.- Songhai? - Songhai.- Oh, Songhai, yes.
0:38:37 > 0:38:42- Songhai empire!- Yeah! - I remember that.- Yeah. ..Oh, sorry.
0:38:45 > 0:38:50- You know an awful lot... You know a lot of ladies, Pygmy.- Yes.
0:38:50 > 0:38:55- It's normal. It's my city and it's OK that you know people!- Yeah.
0:38:55 > 0:39:03In Mali, are the women friendly and open? They don't mind if you come up to say hello, though you're married?
0:39:03 > 0:39:09No, it's OK, I know them since I was a boy. It's my city and everything.
0:39:09 > 0:39:14I heard that you met your wife in the market. Is that true?
0:39:14 > 0:39:21Yeah, I met her in the market, if you want, for the first time, and she is Fulani.
0:39:21 > 0:39:28- And you're Fulani? - Yes, but for me it wasn't necessary to be Fulani or not.
0:39:28 > 0:39:33For me, it only... She was very nice for me, that every time when I come,
0:39:33 > 0:39:41she bring milk, because she sell milk, and for me, everything when she come, I see her and she was pretty,
0:39:41 > 0:39:46- and young, nice, and for me, I was always happy to be with her.- Yeah.
0:39:46 > 0:39:51- Because first I was only buy milk... - You just came along to buy milk!
0:39:51 > 0:39:56You were a customer, exactly. Buying a pint of milk and you fell in love!
0:39:57 > 0:39:59What is special about Fulani women?
0:39:59 > 0:40:02What makes them so distinctive?
0:40:02 > 0:40:08- Can you tell a Fulani woman here in the crowd?- Yeah. She is Fulani.
0:40:08 > 0:40:14- OK, she is Fulani. She is the cousin of my wife.- Oh, right! She's a cousin of your wife!
0:40:14 > 0:40:16You just happened to find her here!
0:40:16 > 0:40:21- You see around her mouth?- Yes. - That's like a tattooage.
0:40:21 > 0:40:26- And that's a family sign on her face. - Those marks there?- Yeah, yeah.
0:40:26 > 0:40:29THEY CHAT
0:40:31 > 0:40:33Lovely ears.
0:40:33 > 0:40:35Aagh!
0:40:35 > 0:40:40- Family problems!- Yes, family problems.- OK, we don't need to know.
0:40:40 > 0:40:47'I feel that Pygmy is the man to enlighten me on the question that's been on my mind since Dakar -
0:40:47 > 0:40:50'sheep.'
0:40:50 > 0:40:57- And there are sheep everywhere. I've seen them all through Mali. - Yeah.- What's the reason?
0:40:57 > 0:40:59Now it will be a Tabaske festival...
0:40:59 > 0:41:06Tabaske is a major Islamic festival. The head of the household is required to sacrifice a sheep.
0:41:06 > 0:41:11It commemorates the time God spared Isaac, the son of Abraham,
0:41:11 > 0:41:14an event common to Muslim, Jew and Christian.
0:41:14 > 0:41:21- Are they all male sheep?- Yeah, complete...- But do they have to be men?- Yeah, not females.
0:41:21 > 0:41:26- Yeah? Because of the story.- Mens... - Complete, meaning what?
0:41:26 > 0:41:31Complete, not with one eyes or one leg, something like that!
0:41:31 > 0:41:37'Pygmy's left it a bit late, and like turkeys on the day before Christmas, it's a seller's market.'
0:41:40 > 0:41:43What's the problem?
0:41:43 > 0:41:47- Now he say 40,000.- 40,000? - I need to discuss.
0:41:47 > 0:41:52- That's £40? Have you haggled down a bit?- Now it's 37.- 37?
0:41:52 > 0:41:55It's two or three people you're dealing with.
0:41:55 > 0:42:01He is the manager who knows where to find the best sheep, but I think he gets something from the owner.
0:42:01 > 0:42:06- He tells me it's a good price...- And the manager gets to trouser a few!
0:42:06 > 0:42:11This doesn't happen like this at Sainsbury's, does it?
0:42:13 > 0:42:18OK. So you get the boys to take it back for you?
0:42:18 > 0:42:22Yeah, yeah. Normally it's always when you buy a sheep...
0:42:26 > 0:42:34Malian women always look sensational, but for Tabaske, they make a special effort.
0:42:37 > 0:42:41'At Pygmy's house, the wife he met over milk shakes
0:42:41 > 0:42:46'is having her feet hennaed by an older woman,
0:42:46 > 0:42:50'who suggests there was more to the relationship than buying milk.'
0:42:50 > 0:42:54I think there's a more interesting side to this story!
0:42:54 > 0:42:59- Shall I tell you what she said?- All right, tell me!- If you fell in love,
0:42:59 > 0:43:05and you try one time with her and it's nice, you can't leave her alone.
0:43:05 > 0:43:09You will follow her everywhere, she says, but it's not true.
0:43:09 > 0:43:15In Mali, before you get married, are you allowed to have time together?
0:43:15 > 0:43:18Can you sleep together?
0:43:18 > 0:43:24- Me, her?- Yeah.- Since the day I get married, I never know her before,
0:43:24 > 0:43:30like love, or sleep together - I never do that before I get married.
0:43:30 > 0:43:32But for the village's people,
0:43:32 > 0:43:38they don't believe I never make love or something with her.
0:43:38 > 0:43:46'I like Pygmy, and the fact that he overcame his parents' objections to marry the woman he wanted.
0:43:50 > 0:43:55'On Tabaske morning, the mosque isn't big enough for everyone.
0:43:55 > 0:43:59'They gather to worship on open ground at the edge of town.'
0:43:59 > 0:44:05- What actually happens now, at this ceremony?- We pray in the daytime.
0:44:05 > 0:44:10Normally, we pray after lunch and on the afternoon.
0:44:10 > 0:44:14But now, because it is like a special ceremony,
0:44:14 > 0:44:19people will pray between 9 and 10 o'clock. It is something very special for us.
0:44:19 > 0:44:25First it is the Imam who makes the sacrifice, kills his sheep here.
0:44:25 > 0:44:31And after, people go home to do the same thing, make the sacrifice.
0:44:31 > 0:44:35IMAM CHANTS
0:44:53 > 0:44:56The sheep's looking nervous,
0:44:56 > 0:45:00like an actor on his first night...and last night!
0:45:03 > 0:45:08Devotions done, the sheep is taken to the Imam
0:45:08 > 0:45:16to be slaughtered. Once he's made this first sacrifice, everyone can head home and celebrations begin.
0:45:22 > 0:45:25GREETINGS
0:45:25 > 0:45:32- Ah, yes. What should I say? What's the greeting? - Sambe sambe.- Sambe sambe!
0:45:35 > 0:45:38Sambe sambe!
0:45:38 > 0:45:43- It's good.- I'm very glad. I know two words...well, one word, twice!
0:45:43 > 0:45:46Sambe sambe! It's good...
0:45:49 > 0:45:56'As we approach his house, I sense that, for the first time, Pygmy's ebullience is beginning to fade,
0:45:56 > 0:46:01'as the moment comes for him to do his duty.
0:46:06 > 0:46:10'One sheep has already been dispatched by his father.
0:46:10 > 0:46:13'Now it's Pygmy's turn.
0:46:19 > 0:46:27'As Auntie looks sternly on, he's instructed in the importance of a swift, humane technique.
0:46:31 > 0:46:37'Most importantly, the cut must be clean and the sheep mustn't suffer.
0:46:39 > 0:46:43'The blood flows into the gutters, the knife is washed,
0:46:43 > 0:46:50'and within half an hour, everything that can be eaten is ready for the pot.
0:46:54 > 0:47:02'In the finest traditions of African and Muslim hospitality, I'm asked to share Tabaske feast.'
0:47:02 > 0:47:07- He is never on time to eat! - Come on! It's all gone!- C'est fini!
0:47:14 > 0:47:17Mm. Thank you. Thank you.
0:47:17 > 0:47:21Mmm! Do you say something? Do you give thanks or...?
0:47:21 > 0:47:27- Normally we never eat with the left hand.- I know, I know. I've made a terrible gaffe.
0:47:30 > 0:47:35- They are laughing because you are not used to it.- I know. I'm not.
0:47:35 > 0:47:38You've got to try something new.
0:47:38 > 0:47:42Find out...how people...
0:47:52 > 0:47:57- Are all the bits of the sheep eaten? - No.
0:47:57 > 0:48:02We eat part of the sheep, and then there is some poor people -
0:48:02 > 0:48:07we give - we distribute amongst them.
0:48:07 > 0:48:12And the young boys of the village - they get the sheeps' testicles?
0:48:12 > 0:48:16Yeah, that's the good luck. It's to make them clever.
0:48:21 > 0:48:24THEY MAKE RUDE NOISES
0:48:30 > 0:48:35Djenne's days of greatness ended when the River Bani silted up,
0:48:35 > 0:48:38and trade moved to the nearby port of Mopti.
0:48:38 > 0:48:42I've come to Mopti to look for the Timbuktu ferry.
0:48:42 > 0:48:49The harbour's full of people, but low on water, leaving raw sewage exposed. No-one but me worries much.
0:48:49 > 0:48:54Squalor and beauty coexist quite happily on the Mopti waterfront.
0:48:54 > 0:48:59I'm relieved to find the Timbuktu ferries are in port.
0:48:59 > 0:49:06But as I climb aboard, it doesn't exactly look as if they're waiting for the starting gun.
0:49:06 > 0:49:10When I eventually find one of the pilots, I get rather a shock.
0:49:10 > 0:49:17- Bonjour.- Bonjour.- Quand est le prochain bateau pour Timbuktu, s'il vous plait?
0:49:17 > 0:49:20- Juillet.- Juillet? Juillet?!- Oui.
0:49:20 > 0:49:25- Alors! A Juillet... Mars, Avril, Juin, Juillet... Three months!- Oui.
0:49:25 > 0:49:31- Trois mois?!- Oui.- C'est fini a ce moment? Le bateau est...?
0:49:31 > 0:49:34- Arrete.- Pas marche?- Ne marche pas.
0:49:34 > 0:49:41- Pourquoi?- Je n'ai pas assez de l'eau.- Ah! Pas de l'eau - not enough water. Fair enough.
0:49:41 > 0:49:49'The river isn't deep enough at this time of year to take steamboats. I shall have to find an alternative.'
0:49:50 > 0:49:53Bonjour, bonjour!
0:49:53 > 0:49:56Je cherche une pinasse pour Timbuktu...
0:49:56 > 0:50:03'The harbour master is sympathetic, and appreciates that I can't really hang around for three months.
0:50:03 > 0:50:11'He asks around among the captains of the wood-hulled cargo boats, the pinasses, that ply the river.
0:50:11 > 0:50:16'After some negotiation, he finds one that will take us -
0:50:16 > 0:50:20'the Pagou Manpagu. It leaves tomorrow.'
0:50:28 > 0:50:31'Day of departure.
0:50:31 > 0:50:36'Time for Englishman in silly hat to take on provisions.'
0:50:36 > 0:50:38Combien? Cent?
0:50:40 > 0:50:46- Trois cents.- Trois cents? Trois cents, c'est tres cher, n'est-ce pas?
0:50:46 > 0:50:50Mais...vous etes tres belle. Merci.
0:50:50 > 0:50:52Au revoir.
0:50:52 > 0:50:55Look, we have some nanas!
0:50:57 > 0:51:04The river's encouragingly busy. Indeed, it looks as if we'll be leaving in the middle of rush hour!
0:51:07 > 0:51:10I squelch through the mud and filth
0:51:10 > 0:51:15for what I pray will be the last time, and sling my bag on deck.
0:51:18 > 0:51:21Unfortunately, there IS no deck -
0:51:21 > 0:51:26just an open hull below and a small farm up on the bridge.
0:51:29 > 0:51:35There's no denying the sense of anticipation as we finally get under way -
0:51:35 > 0:51:42past my stranded ferry boat and out to join the Sahara's most famous river.
0:51:42 > 0:51:44I'm now at last on the Niger River,
0:51:44 > 0:51:51which runs in a great curve out into the desert and back into Nigeria.
0:51:51 > 0:51:55About 200 years ago, no Westerners had really seen it.
0:51:55 > 0:52:02They decided they had to find out about this part of Africa and the wealth being carried on the river.
0:52:02 > 0:52:08Mungo Park, who wrote Travels Into The Interior Of Africa, was the first Westerner here, in 1796.
0:52:08 > 0:52:16Then, of course, the race was on to try and get to Timbuktu, which was the legendary city on the river.
0:52:16 > 0:52:20Mungo Park never made it there, but others did.
0:52:20 > 0:52:25I hope WE will - that the wind doesn't strengthen any more!
0:52:37 > 0:52:42There's no restaurant as such on board, but food is always available.
0:52:42 > 0:52:45The kitchen is, well, just about anywhere.
0:53:02 > 0:53:07At one stop, Kristin, a Norwegian, comes aboard.
0:53:07 > 0:53:12She's lived in Mali for some years, studying Fulani women and customs.
0:53:12 > 0:53:20The other thing lots of people have said still goes on is circumcision - male and female circumcision.
0:53:20 > 0:53:24Is that true, from your experience of the society?
0:53:24 > 0:53:29It's very hard to resist, and to fight against circumcision.
0:53:29 > 0:53:34And to be a woman here, you should be circumcised.
0:53:34 > 0:53:39Do you think...? I mean, the European view would be
0:53:39 > 0:53:44that there's something a bit barbaric and cruel and um...
0:53:44 > 0:53:51that it ruins the pleasure of sex for women, and all that sort of thing. Do you think that's true?
0:53:51 > 0:53:58It's quite sure that what is sexual pleasure here and in Europe, I think it's quite different.
0:53:58 > 0:54:04And we have a tendency of thinking that sexual pleasure is quite...
0:54:04 > 0:54:10is impossible for a circumcised woman. I don't share that opinion.
0:54:10 > 0:54:14And what men find attractive here in Africa
0:54:14 > 0:54:19doesn't necessarily correspond with what is attracting a man in Europe.
0:54:19 > 0:54:23In Europe, a woman should be skinny, but here,
0:54:23 > 0:54:28- a woman should be fat.- Yeah, I've noticed.- That's very contradictory.
0:54:30 > 0:54:37'She's also a part-time Christian missionary - not an easy thing to be in a Muslim country.'
0:54:39 > 0:54:44Isn't it hard to convert Muslims to Christianity?
0:54:44 > 0:54:52I have never considered evangelism or the Biblical message in...in numbers, counting.
0:54:52 > 0:54:55It's what is in the heart,
0:54:55 > 0:55:01and, you know, the most important is to love each other.
0:55:01 > 0:55:06So if people see me and see me acting understand that,
0:55:06 > 0:55:12and are asking me questions, I will respond to them.
0:55:12 > 0:55:18- And if you go into a dialogue, it will be fine... - I think we've run aground!
0:55:18 > 0:55:23- We ran aground?- This is the hazard of going up the Niger River!
0:55:23 > 0:55:29It looks very wide, but it's very shallow, especially at this point, don't you think? We hit a sandbank.
0:55:29 > 0:55:35- It's not profound at all.- What? - It's very common.- Is it?- Yes.
0:55:35 > 0:55:40- So they're going to push us off with those great big poles?- Yes, I think.
0:55:40 > 0:55:45- Do you travel up the Niger a lot? - Yes.- Do you?- Yes. I love it.- Really?
0:55:45 > 0:55:47It gives me a great satisfaction.
0:55:47 > 0:55:55- It's so colm...- Calm!- Calm?- Yes. It's very tranquil at the moment, isn't it?
0:55:55 > 0:56:00'As the mighty River Niger is revealed to be barely waist-deep,
0:56:00 > 0:56:05'there's not much to do except find out a little more about each other.'
0:56:05 > 0:56:11Have you any idea of the number of converts, people who have converted to Protestantism?
0:56:11 > 0:56:17- I know...- You know? - ..people that have been converted.
0:56:17 > 0:56:21- From Islam to...? - From Islam to Christianity.
0:56:21 > 0:56:25We have been working in Mali for 15 years.
0:56:25 > 0:56:28Just to determine my...
0:56:28 > 0:56:35- Determine? What do you call it? - To determine? Determine. - ..the number...it's improper.
0:56:35 > 0:56:39- I don't...- 100? 1,000? - It's not a good question.
0:56:39 > 0:56:44It's like, it's not what it's about at all, the numbers.
0:56:44 > 0:56:49Even though it was 100 or 1,000 or even one, it's the same thing.
0:56:49 > 0:56:55- It's important to be present and to act in society.- Yeah. Mm.
0:56:55 > 0:56:59And to get people to see what they are doing.
0:56:59 > 0:57:04- And I don't count in souls or converted...- No, I just...
0:57:04 > 0:57:10roughly, whether you knew if it was thousands or hundreds or ones or twos, that was all.
0:57:10 > 0:57:16Because then I can say, "Yes, well, a number of people have converted in Mali." But I don't know how many.
0:57:16 > 0:57:22- So you're not going to tell me.- No. I think it's a ridiculous question.
0:57:22 > 0:57:27- After another day and a half on the river, I'll ask again!- Maybe!
0:57:35 > 0:57:40Perhaps not surprisingly, Kristin jumps ship to avoid more questions,
0:57:40 > 0:57:45and goes ashore on a fishing boat, which is probably just as well,
0:57:45 > 0:57:47as there's only one hammock.
0:57:47 > 0:57:52Well, it's about 6:35, night falling over Africa,
0:57:52 > 0:57:57and, um...we're still on the same sandbank we stuck on earlier,
0:57:57 > 0:58:00when I was talking to Kristin,
0:58:00 > 0:58:05so I don't know how long it's going to be...
0:58:05 > 0:58:10It could be all night. But it's very comfortable in hammock class.
0:58:10 > 0:58:14Well, no-one ever said getting to Timbuktu would be easy.
0:58:14 > 0:58:20So what more can an Englishman do, but lie back and think of Africa?
0:58:25 > 0:58:30Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:30 > 0:58:34E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk