Katie in Africa

I hope she won't mind my posting her email here, but seeing as it was a mass email I don't think she will (except that she says she likes to read about ME on my blog). So here is an email from my wonderful friend Katie about her final weeks in Africa before coming back to the states and to DC!! I've hotlinked things here for a geographical reference (hey, she said get out my map...):

Ok kids, get out your maps!
So, i am no longer a Peace Corps volunteer and I am about to depart on a 5 week trip around west africa. Some people think I'm crazy for doing this by myself ... .I just hope I don't fall down too much :)

Today I fly from Dakar to Ouagadougou, capital of Burkina Faso. Tomorrow I'll spend some time exploring the city, and then Thursday I head east. I'll be traveling through Burkina to Northern Benin (Nattitangou to be specific).

I'm going to explore Samba country and then head south to Abomey, Cotonou, and Ouidah. From Benin I move on to Togo. I'll spend some time relaxing on the shores of lake togo in the south and then move onto Kpalimé in the hills on the border with Ghana. (I'm skipping Lomé for both my dislike of african cities and fear of political unrest. . . all though that really shouldn't be a problem these days). So, I'm going to spend a day or two hiking in Togo and then cross the border into the Volta region of Ghana. The volta region is full of lush green mountains and waterfalls. I'll stay there for maybe 3 days of hiking and biking and playing with monkeys before I head south to Accra.

From Accra it's on to Cape Coast, Kumasi, and then up north to Mole National Park where I should land around christmas. From the park (where I hope to find Elephants and Giraffs) I move to Wa and the border with Burkina Faso.

Then I head back into Burkina to the city of Bobo Dilasso for a day or two, and then it's on to Mali.

I'm meeting my friend Marielsie in Sevaré and we will head straight to Dogon country. The Dogon people live on the edge of a giant plateau/escarpment and have built their villages into the side of the cliffs. Trekking through Dogon is the can't miss activity of West Africa and is sure to be a highlight of the trip. I've been wanting to go for 2 years now!

From Dogon it's basically a race back to senegal. we'll be traveling long distances, stoping in Segou, Bamako, and Kayes along the way. We'll hit the border of Senegal at Kidira, hopefully around the 13th of January. Marielsie will head back up north to her village, and I'll make my final trip to Dakar!

I fly out of Senegal at 2:30am on January 17th and arrive in New York around 3:30pm!