First stop Mali: An African Journey with Jonathan Dimbebly

Suffice it to say that the first tranche of Dimbebly's African Journey documentary on BBC 2 on Sunday 30 May was satisfactory, at times delightful. No controversial or patronising talk about Africans. People talked, Mr Dimbleby listened. There didn’t seem to any presumptions, assumptions or suppositions. And thankfully there was just enough contrast and diversity in the choice of stories and themes covering Mali, Ghana, Nigeria. And that had been my hope all along; that the continent would be portrayed as a diverse and complex (in a positive way) place. The opening scenes began in Bamako, Mali’s capital, and a city I love and respect very much. (See my posts from 2008 for more about my travels in Mali). Mopeds are a way of life for ordinary Malians in the city. JD bravely hitched a ride on one such taxi Moped, and was the true professional trying to talk into the camera, maintain poise and journalistic composure, knowing full well that ride could well be his last! The fond realisation that the purchase of a Moped by an ambitious young had elevated his status amongst his kith and kin was further testament to how so little can go a long way in Africa. Next is the Moped spare part, assembly and repair shop. Magician mechanics work repairs in no more than 15mins, a feat that would make a UK repair garage here blush. And these Mopeds are completely affordable. Why? You ask. Well you guessed it; they are Chinese imports and cost a third of the price of Japanese and Western models. The anti-China in Africa bandwagon can grind to a halt now.

At a Bamako wedding he’s been invited to, JD becomes the centre of female attention. Malian women are strong and are not modest about their make up and hair dos. Some of it can seem over the top, but for some reason, theirs are much easier on the eye than made-up faces I’ve seen else where in the sub-region, not least including my very own Nigeria. A well known local musician is singing and wooing the slightly embarrassed JD, who according to local custom has to ‘spray’ (very African term denoting the giving of money to a praise singer) the singer. The scene had all the recipes of a cringe moment, but JD wasn’t that rhythmically challenge, and I was quite relieved that the documentary quickly moved on the next scene in Segou, which is around 150km north-east of Bamako. Segou is a mesmerising place. Not for any fancy architecture, but for the mystic River Niger. The 4,180 km-long River Niger begins in the highlands of Guinea, and passes through Mali, Niger, and northern Benin before finally ending in Nigeria. It is the lifeblood and source of livelihood for many West Africans - pastoralists, nomadic herders, farmers, fishermen and pirogue makers (pirogues are slim fishing boats). Segou (see one of my previous blogs from 2008 for more about Segou) is a great spot for seeing how the River Niger really comes through life. The Niger is on the edge of the city. JD gets on a pirogue on the Niger to see the tasking work done by Segou’s Sand Diggers. These men essentially bring sand up from the River bed. Up to 20 metres below the water’s surface. There’s no breeding apparatus, goggles or swimming gear. It’s all shear grit, there’s no glamour in this, only about £0.50 a day for the sand digger who has to work up to 7 hours everyday in the scorching heat.

A few hundred kilometres up north, JD’s in Djenne, and fairly ancient and picturesque city, at least in the Sahelian, rather than Florentine sense. Djenne’s main centre piece here is the Djenne mosque with its Sudano-Sahelian style. The first structure was built in the 13th century and the most recent building we see dates back to 1907. The wonder of this building is that it’s made entirely of mud brick, like many other structures in Djenne. And its local architects are fiercely proud of this heritage. So much so that its considered an exclusive privilege to build and refurbish such ancient mud brick (aka adobe ) buildings. Those guardians of this ancient practice are extremely weary of new more modern concrete buildings springing up in the city, which they see as threatening to erode tradition. Mali is so vast, I wished Mr Dimblebly had carried on his expedition. One such unexplored place, and quite popular with Western tourists is the ancient and famous city of Timbuktu, as well Gao, both in the land of the ethnic and stunningly beautiful Tuaregs (who can also be found in parts in northern Niger, and parts of north-eastern Burkina Faso). Still, this 20min glimpse of Mali had enough passion and realism, without being overly sentimental.

Ghana and Nigeria were his next destination. Watch this space for my blogging commments on Dimbebly's Kumasi, Accra and Lagos travels

Sahel Diaries: Between Bamako and Segou (April 25 2008)

We left Bamako at about 10.30am in the morning on Friday April 25, via the sortie de Bamako, in around 40 degrees heat. We passed the famous cite des mangues – the name speaks for itself! The road incredibly is tarred all the way to Ségou. We reached the border between Koulikoro region and Segou region about 11.30 or 12pm. I wasn’t studiously monitoring the time, though, as the heat was causing me to drift in and out of sleep.

Ségou is a tranquil place, having been the country's old colonial capital, and Mali’s second largest city. The Auberge where I stayed runs along the River Niger, which isn’t a bad location for watchin theg sunset. Unsuprisingly life in Ségou appears to revolve around the Niger – be it women doing their domestic chores, children playing around in the water, fishermen casting out their nets, and wannabe be tour guides with ‘pirgoues’ waiting to take the few tourists who venture there at this very hot time of the year across to the Island on the other side. arlier, coming into Ségou, we drove past the Office du Niger, which began an irrigation scheme a while ago. However the building didn’t seem to be open to the public, guess Friday is a bit of a lazy day here in Mali. In any casee we'd already seen hundreds of muslim faithfuls stream outside the grand mosque when we arrived in Segou. Tranquil pleasant city. Not much going on though, apart from the River Niger. A worthy stop nonetheless!

Pictures: Sunset over the pirogues by the River Niger, Donkeys on the road to Segou and me at the Musée Nationale, Bamako

Journey time: 3 hours