Stefanie and the other ladies bought cloth in the market, then left it with the tailors, who would have the garments sewed on their old Singer machines by the evening. The market was a bit disappointing, full of imported materials and Chinese tat. We had a beer on the roof of Ali's hotel, one of only two in town, and met one of his sons there, Vieux Farka Toure, also a musician.
A big stage and sound system has been trucked in, and set up in the main square. The Minister for Culture and other dignitaries sat in arm chairs in the front row, and the concert kicked off with a local band. It hardly paused for the next six hours, with each act introduced by a great praise singer who kept the whole evening moving. It was chilly by the end, when Ali's band played a few of his best pieces. The minister looked very cosy, squeezed into the armchair with Nick Gold, head of World Circuit, and a rather large Tourag woman singer, Haïr Arby, who was one of the highlights of the evening.
[Artists included: L'Alkibar, Niafunké; Abdoul Kadr Moubda, Senegal; Andreas Fulgosi, Switzerland; Trio Morika Konyate; Sayo Kone; Bassekou Kouyate, Mali; Kanote; Ali Baba Cisse; Marcus James; Vieux Farka Toure; Haïr Arby, Mali ]
We had about two hours on the mattress before the dawn call of the pinasse, and the return journey was just as relaxing as that downstream, with even the same groups of hippos yawning in the shallows.
