Although we couldn’t believe our trip was coming to an end,
when we woke up on the 26th, all of the big events had come and
passed and we were ready to get going. We tied our bundles on our backs and set
out to go back down the incline into village, through the town and out again,
past the gardens and stretches of sand, and finally to the base of the steep
climb up through the pass – what would undoubtedly be the hardest hike yet.
Rather than Christmas music, we decided to go with “get up and
go!” music that would keep our spirits up and our legs climbing – starting with
the theme song to Rocky: “Eye of the
Tiger.” We made good time, but even so we were still overtaken and passed by a
man and a woman, the woman climbing in flip-flops, a fancy, not-so-flexible
Malian wrap skirt and long sleeve shirt, and with a baby tied on her back. It’s
ok, our egos were long gone by this time. We even asked her to take a picture
with us! Definitely one of my favorite photos from the trip. |
| Wooden ladder in the pass |
We made it across the wooden ladder, through the uphill pass, walked
back along the bridge, and had almost made it through the Wasteland when the
Black Eyed Peas’ “I Gotta Feeling” came on the iPod. Well come on, you can’t not dance to that song!! So we stopped
right where we were and had a mini-break in the form of a dance party. Ibrahim
shook his head at us and commented, “I always get the crazy tourists” and then grabbed
Michaela’s camera out of her pocket so he could capture the moment.
Dourou, where we’d left our bags, wasn’t much farther away,
and soon we arrived, amidst the usual chorus of Ça va le
bonbon?? (This village was particularly bad about that). I couldn’t believe
it was over already – and yet finally! My feet were killing me. My shoulders
probably would’ve fallen off if I’d carried my bag those last 2 days. We’d
walked 44km (a little over 27 miles) in 4 days and celebrated the most unusual
Christmas holidays I’d ever experienced.
A wonderful trip!!!
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