Syama Resort '08

Well folks it's only a few more short weeks before I hit Australian shores again, and I can tell you I am really really looking forward to seeing the ocean again - who would have thought that I would ever be able to endure 12 months of summer weather (brief interludes in the UK aside) and especially so without heading down the Great Ocean Road to my beloved Aireys.

It will be a bit of an adjustment for me I'm sure after spending the last few months on the highways of Afrique d'Ouest.


The road to Farkala

This is a fairly typical scene on the way in or out from Syama, and the music of Salif Keita or Ali Farka Touré is almost always gracing the airwaves. But nothing beats the international highway ...


... traffic jam!

And I'll have to re-adjust again to my old cappuccino lifestyle, but having said that, there's nothing wrong with my local ...


Café

... except that it is 5-hours' drive away in Bobo-Diaolasso!


Team Exploration, Mali

So I'm going to farewell the team again briefly ...


Ali the welder

... and down tools ...


Une bière de luxe, s'il vous plaît

... leave the boys behind with their friend Flag ... and hopefully not have to encounter too many of these again for a while!


Is it a puff adder or a python?

I dunno but it's pretty damn big and I'm damn glad I didn't see the animal it belonged to.


Look Marcus ...

... you can almost see Melbourne, it's just over there, just a little bit past Syama ...