Mile High Blues

So I finally set foot at home in the UK just before 4pm today, after more than 12hrs of travel chaos. This is how it all started; my flight from Dakar to Paris should have left Leopold Senghor airport in Dakar at 11.50, but after sitting on the plane for close to 30mins after that time, it was clear that it would be a long night. The captain eventually said the ground engineering crew were trying to fix the emergency lighting in the cabins - Aviation regulations, or at least Air France's, dictate that flights only go ahead if all the saftety checklists are successfully conducted. Emergency cabin lighting is considered to be one of those saftey core fundamentals. No lights, No flight, No action, at least for the next four hours. We eventually all got back on the plane after 3am in the morning, and made our way to Paris. All were exhausted and the lack of interest in the in-flight entertainment testified to that. There was no way I was going to catch my connecting flight from Paris to London. So a very tired and knackered Rolake arrives at CDG and gets put on a 1pm flight to London, with assurances from the Air France client services guy that my luggage would be transferred unto the right plane accordingly. Ah!!! As if!! I got to LHR alright, but my luggage didn't. During the week I had been boasting to acquaintances in Dakar, that I had never had to endure the hassle of losing baggage on any of my travels. Guess everyone has their time.

Wednesday in Dakar

The Blind Couple from Mali - Amadou and Mariam certainly wowed the crowd on Wednesday night. There's no point in me given a long-winded critique of the show. Despite being at the very back, having the last row of seats meant we could actually stand on our chairs and watch le spectacle without getting on any one's nerves. The crowd were really swinging to the Afro-Blues beats coming from the band, and Amadou's electric - or should I say rock - guitar riffs were north meets south, country meets blues, kora meets gospel organ - sensational. I think I really enjoyed the songs in their native Bambara, though the songs in French like Je Pense a toi certainly got the crowd going. My next buy is their Dimanche a Bamako (Sunday in Bamako) CD, an apparently sensational collaboration with Manu Chao!!