Au revoir Syama ...

Hard to believe that yesterday I was still sweltering away and avoiding les moustiques after dusk, and that today I'm tucked up in Paris with the heater going, wearing four layers and a goosedown jacket and expecting snow at any moment ... really!

So let's take a look back at my west African lifestyle before my Parisienne lifestyle kicks in. The highlights included of course moving into my very own hut!


Tour all a-r-o-u-n-d my house

And as often as possible ...


Another dance

... with the gents in Fourou.

And what may be news to some of you is the night Pup proposed at the bar - I even got a handmade ring, fashioned out of a Castel wrapper - what more can a girl ask for?


Oh happy days!

Of course, I was abandoned only minutes after this joyful event as duty called him away to Liberia, armed only with a tin of pistachios for company.


Me and the aircrew

So thank goodness the geophysical survey crew arrived to keep me entertained for a few weeks.

Meanwhile, back at base there were one or two issues with the vehicles ....


Fixing the car

... nothing that a bit of manpower can't sort out! And we didn't even have a serious load, unlike the


Light cargo

... that you see on the road to Bamako!

An area in which the exploration team showed consistent and excellent performance was, naturally enough, on the fashion front.


Le guardien du sondage

in required attire! Perhaps outdone by the ever stylish and ...


... truly orignal ...

Ali Soro. The D&G poster boy geologist! And I like to think that I am also able to put up a fine effort when working on my tan.


Outdoor ensemble

And just in time for Simmo's departure, everyone was able to finally shine in ...


The Somisy Collection '08

I tried very hard not to give Siaka too much trouble, but I'm afraid that wasn't always possible.


I promise Siaka

Especially so whenever Catherine came to town.


Night out with CC

Thankfully a night out with the Irishmen is enough to get you giggling and stop you thinking about your worries!

As can a night when every man at Syama manages to bring you that much needed G&T, replete with cocktail umbrella and a wedge of lime ...


Ooooo ... for me!?!

Proving that it is possible to do the impossible in the middle of Africa ...


Garlands ...

... if you want to enough, hey Sean? (Always have to have the last word don't I?)

So before I left I had a few things to wrap up.


My stash

Most importantly, the eating of the stash - yes sir-ee - this is the cupboard of joy that kept me ... and Marcus ... and Simmo ... and Amanda ... and Ronnie ... and ... going over the months.


Blast buddies

John (and Paul) made sure that I managed to see the 'best of the blasts' in my final weeks - pretty damn cool I must say, and thankfully far more controlled (and therefore far less scary) than a volcanic blast.


Me and the driller

Rob de WADS took me on a tour of the new Chateau de WADS at Taba - just a few finishing touches required, including a fence to enclose the freestanding gate. The beauty of it all was of course that Rob sourced 90% of his building materials out of the rubbish dump at site!


...egads!

And after 18 months of being almost entirely free of any mosquito bites, the evil insects had a veritable feast on my arms in my last few days ... retribution! Let's just hope Madame Anopholes wasn't the culprit and that my malarone holds steady!

Then all too quickly it was time to go ... we had a lovely BBQ prepared by Chef Simon out the back of the exploration office and tried to share the joy of working together, rather than the tears of parting company ...


Rowdy bunch

... with plenty of happy memories shared amongst us ...


Mariam models a mug

... because your friends are with you wherever you go, always in spirit!


Sunset over Syama

Weekend in Amsterdam

Yes - I went to Amsterdam, via Haarlem! Katie told me she was going to be in Europe during the first week of October, so I decided to catch up on all the news of her life in Cambodia in person.


Reunited

How did two girls who met at the Alliance Française in Melbourne end up in Amsterdam?

Have passport - will travel!

What a transition - we both left Melbourne in the same month, Kate headed off to the tropical wilderness of South East Asia, while I headed off in the other direction for the tropics of West Africa. We were enjoying the novelty of being cold and wandering around paved streets and slipping into cafés at will for a cappuccino.


Photographie Artistique

As I tried to get an artistic shot of the art nouveau façade of this building I discovered that it was once an artistic photographic studio (hopefully their work was better than mine!)


In the Jordaan

And then there are the canals to wander through - what a pleasant way to pass the afternoon, and happily we'd met Hoeke and Frans from Friesland who took us on a tour of one of their son's re-furbished rental canal houses - a real treat! Those buildings are surprisingly big inside, hiding a rabbit warren of high high ceilinged rooms heated by beautiful delft-tiled stoves.


Brunch on the street

Of course all of that tourist activity is very tiring and calls for a pitstop at some point. Soph and I luckily had the seats next to the exhaust grill from the kitchen, which kept us wonderfully warm, but the occasional burst of grilled kipper smoke was a wee bit trying ...


Night life

After a hard day on the tourist trail we hit the bars of the Jordaan and went out to meet the Dutch!


Night light

And check out their design work ... how about that for a light fixture? My failed attempt to get to the Droog Design store however, did allow me to indulge in a perfect slice of ...


Dutch appel tart

In fact - and as some of you may have guessed - there was one venue on my Amsterdam agenda that I'd been wanting to visit for years. Ever since I read about De Kas, I'd wanted to go and check it out! A restaurant in a converted greenhouse in the middle of a park where the 5 courses they serve you (and it's a surprise everyday) are sourced directly from the nursery or from local growers each day.


Oooo ... exciting!

Yeah - this is my kind of place! And who better to share the experience with than ...


The Sisters Fraser!

As Sophie rightly says, "a whole lot more fun than the Brothers Grimm"!


Olives

Check out the size of those olives - not to mention of course the über cool ring that Kate is sporting!


Broccoli and old cheese

Hmmmm... autumn is a season for delicious things, unfortunately my venison was far less photogenic than the broccoli, but it was outstanding nonetheless - with a glazed and roasted parsnip crowning it's glorious majesty!


Mousse

We finished with a rich trifle of macerated fig, red wine jelly and dark chocolate mousse with spiced icecream and praline. That made everyone's evening!

Now I know that Holland is not really known for it's plethora of fantastic food experiences, but I am happy to report back that you can't go wrong in a Dutch bakery, the bread is fantastic and I might be very bold in saying this, the butter cookies I bought at the little artisan bakery in the nine streets were beyond great, far and away the best I've ever tasted!

But the Dutch do have an uphill battle trying to live down the horrors imparted by ...


Febo ... ?

Remember the Jetsons? Yes, that is a burger vending machine. Eeeeeerrrrrggggghhhhh .....