September 17th, Terjit...

Hmmm...apparently the one car who had planned to go to Terjit this morning couldn't find enough passe gets so he canceled the trip. Bummer!

Other option, take a private cab for a lot of cash. It is only 50km away.

Or, I am told I can take a shared cab to the Gendarmerie. There find a ride to the Police station. And from there, either find another ride or walk the 15km left.

When I ask the price for the first shared cab I am told a price way to high. Hell no!so I start walking. After the 850km of the Camino, walking is not !much of an obstacle for me. Not that it ever was before anyway.

Ask am exiting the tow , a cab stops by and asks for what seems to be a decent price...well compared to what I had been told at the market. I get in.

I get dropped off at the Gendarmerie. The legal forces in this part of the world are real clowns so ridicule and unprofessional they are. Gardeners and toll booth agents in Europe look like Wall street bankers compared to them. So I hang out with them for a not until I find my next ride. Funny chats they are having with each other about a pot of plant they just stole by corruption from a car who just passed by and who seemed to have to many plants in its trunk. Can't even believe the head officer told the others that lemon are the very small ones and that anything bigger must be a grapefruit. How about big lemons or oranges???!!!

Thank Gog I find my next ride. 35km later I get dropped off at the Police station. The officers there were by far the head clowns I had seen in the country so far.

No ride seems to show up. The sun is almost at a 90 degree angle. The heat is thick. No shade in sight on the way. I buy some water just in case and get going.

I could read the thoughts in the mind of the shop keeper who sold me the water about how crazy white people acted some times...walking at that hour, that far, with only a t-shirt and hat for shade. Oh well...

It was hot indeed, but the heat was so thick that it didn't feel all that dry. Almost comfortably hot...strange. I pondered for a while whether to put sun screen or not.

After about an hour of walking, I reached a construction site...they are building a new road. A young man stops by with his beat up Mercedes and asks if I want a ride. At this stage I assumed I was half way through and was very much determined to walk it all the way if I had to. So I smile, say hello, and ask how much for the ride. He says whatever I want...even free of I want. I say OK for free. Hehe!

His name is Moktar. He is still not married. 30 years old, and works on the road project.

The distance between. Where he picked me up and Terjit was a lot longer than I thought, a lot longer. So I was actually now willing to give him so money. And plus he turned out to be quite a nice guy anyway.

In Terjit he insisted that I stay at his friend's Auberge and took me up there. I usually don't like that. Drivers taking me to their friends places to get a commission even though the place actually sucks.

Well well well...this time I decided to follow the flow. Let's see life's surprises. Well, the surprise was beyond expectations. I had just been taken to a little paradise in the middle of the oasis off Terjit. Auberge Tourvine, run by Jamal and his family. Beautiful a and kind family. I was on a cloud. The place was beautiful and simple. The attention I received was genuine and without any expectation in return. My presence was enough.

Their two kids, Bopa (10) and Selim (6) were so adorable. Bopa is the cutest girl, though quite plumpy, and Selim is just curious and won't show any facial expressions.

I am told to just rest inside the giant tikit. That tikit by the way is unique. It is built like a huge flat straw pancake around the trunk of a big acacia tree. The stricture is such that it provides shade and freshness all day long. Plants all around, and from time to time the kids water both the plants and the straw to produce even more freshness.

Bopa speaks a very nice and polite French. Very impressive.

As I am there the only thing I keep on thinking about is for Angelina to be there and see this as well. The moment is so magical.

And so I rest. Soon Jamal starts preparing the traditional 3 cups of tea. Such a long and choreographed process.

I also observe how he smokes his very traditional black tobacco cone pipe and how he uses with dexterity his small old leather case for it.

Jamal is very quiet, poised and kind of like his son, doesn't show much facial expression. So I get quite happy when I manage to create a hint of a smile on his face.

His wife has Moroccan blood. She also has a serious limp on the left leg. She has a lot more facial expressions than her husband. The lunch she is cooking smells delicious.

After the tea, we just sit there...breathing the silence of the air and being glad that we are in the shade. The heat outside seems lethal.

Jamal suggests we go check out the natural spring in the middle of the oasis...more like a mini natural pool created by a spring and a series of mini water falls. Hell yeah! Let's go! Not everyday that one can see a natural pool in the middle of the desert. Definitely the only one in the country as far as I know.

The beauty of my timing with my trip to west Africa is that it is the lowest of the tourist season. I am the only foreigner in Terjit. And walking through the palm tree oasis/forest, and to the spring, all alone with Jamal and no one else around is priceless.

Jamal makes me drink some of the spring water. Out of decency and adventurous curiosity I taste it. Hopefully the water is indeed pure. Hmmm...

I take a long deep in the refreshing and quite pool while Jamal is further away in the shade and giving the privacy I didn't even ask.

If Terjit had been the very last stop and day of my long journey before going back home I would have been OK and happy with that.

The place is totally empty. Not a soul around. So peaceful and dream like.

We soon head back home...both of us are hungry.

Lunch is finally served. I am starving. It is a kind of paella...without the seafood. It is as delicious as its smell had announced.

I eat and eat and eat...

As we are about done, Moktar reappears...and gets eating as well.

Soon we all fall into a deep sleep...post lunch sleep, under the tikit. And the afternoon passes by like that. Listening to the music of the thick golden heat flowing through the palms and softly brushing the sand off from one place to another.

A few hours before the sunset started Jamal had made sure to fill up what would normally be used as a water reserve basin, but in this case a small swimming pool...well swimming for the kids but not for people my size. Lol

Selim is then the happiest kid on earth. Flipping and flopping in the water. Pretending to be diving in as the kid probably never has seen a real pool or even the ocean. He is having so much fun.

Before it is to late I climb up the dunes behind the garden to get and catch some nice views of the far landscape. The view is spectacular. Almost surreal. Golden sand dunes sparkled with green acacia trees and ruins of old circular stone tikits. On and on and on...surrounded by giant high above plateaux. Gorgeous sights...hopefully I manage to capture some decent shots with my camera.

Then as I hear some noises from down below I decide to go check out the actual little village of Terjit to see what it looks like.

No movie set would have been able to recreate such beauty. From the houses to the people. I bumped into a small group of primary school aged girls. I am in awe by how beautiful the scene is. Each wearing a different bright color kind of sari. Their hair half covered reveals the wildest most beautiful hair. Their eyes are between a deep purple and a red. Their smiles...almost paralyzing. Just pure, innocent, and beautiful. I literally stayed there, not moving for five minutes, not having a clue of what to do. If only my eyes were cameras with which I could take unnoticed photos!!! I would have taken a photo but before I even hinted at it they made sure to say "no photo!". OK.

National Geographic and its famous green eyed Afghani girl should reshoot the scene here!

A block further I see this young girl waving in a funny almost dancing kind of way. So I "dance" back imitating her voice. Lol every one starts laughing infectiously. The scene keeps on going for a bit.

As I leave, everyone runs after me. I stop and quickly turn around. They all get scared and run the opposite way, still laughing hard. And so we play that game I have so often played in Africa so far, for a bit. And this time I really leaves. I would love to stay there much much longer...but the frustration of not being able to take a single photo would kill me.

When I get home, Selim and Bopa jump into the pool. They invite me, so I jump in as well. Flipping and flopping as well. Happy.

When I get out as the sun is almost down, the "table" had been magnificently set on the floor in the middle of the sandy yard. It looks like a fairy tale. Where the hell is Angelina?!?!?!?!

Jamal and Moktar are wearing their traditional white boubou. I feel bad, only having a dirty T-shirt and short. But no choice.

We lay there on the pillows under the rising moon and setting sun. The air is silent yet still hot. Barely any noise other than some of the village kids herding their goats and sheep's back home.

And the couscous dinner is served. It is now night time. The wind feels even more present as the sun light is not here to blond us nor give us a burning impression anymore. The wind feels hot and thick but very much enjoyable.

Soon Jamal plugs in a small TV set under the acacia in front of us, and the moon and stars are now complemented by this loud speaking square source of bright light.

Everyone is chatting. I wish I spoke the local dialect so I could participate.

I dose off a bit. I had a long and exciting day. Everyone starts leaving soon.

The family sets up their mats around ready to go to sleep. Well, the kids are already deep asleep. Jamal suggest I climb up the rock hill to go sleep at its top. Sure. Sounds like a fabulous plan. So we both climb up to set my bed up.

Today was magical.