My Travel Across Africa

7/25/1803
As I open my eyes on this early Thursday morning, I
glance around, and my eye catches on my maroon colored
duffel bag, stuffed with clothes. I remember that tomorrow is
the big day; to show my family that I can travel, and that I am
daring and strong, because today, I Kesi Miola, only 16 years
old, am going on my first trade journey to travel from Gao,
Mali, my home town, to the edge of Tunis, Africa. I am
nervous, I admit it, but its only because I am traveling about
1,472 miles across the desert and oasis, so I bet that you
would be scared to.
I leap out of bed, and my feet touch the cold floor. I walk
into the kitchen and smell the fresh sweet smell of bouille, I
love it so much, it is sweet milk, with cereal, and has the
texture of runny rice pudding. My mother usually makes it
when something big is happening, or just when she feels
happy. My mom is a short little woman, her long black hair
sweeps across her back every time she moves.
Hi, mom. I say to her as I sit down at our small table,
and start to eat this food, that is fit for a King.
Good morning, sweetie, she answered, Your brother,
and father are going to go to the market with you after he
waters the figs, ok?
Ok. I mumbled between bites.
We live in a mud house that is covered in palm leaves
that double as our roof, it is pretty small for a family of 4, but
that is just what I have to live with. I have to share a bedroom
with my brother, Ama, he is 23 years old, and he is coming on
my journey with me. He usually helps with the fig trees we
grow, I am so excited for them to blossom, because their

flowers are bright red-orange, and I can see them right

outside my window. I also have to share my room with my
little sister, Leisha, she has so much energy she is usually
bouncing of the walls.
Today, my goal is to get all the supplies and equipment
that I need for my journey. So me and my Dad went to the
market to get some materials. My dad is very tall, about 6 ft,
5 inches tall, he has short dark brown hair, and light blue
eyes.
As we approach the market I see little children running
around peoples legs, and hear people bidding on trade
items, the market is one popular spot to shop. Our favorite
place to go is a store owned by a man named Roule, his shop
has all kinds of things, fresh fruits, tapestries, blankets, tents,
he even sells camels, or you can rent them for a while.
Hey, Roule, its been a while! My dad exclaimed, he
walked up to him through the crowd, and gave him a big hug.
Jokombe, I havent seen you for a while, to what do I
owe this visit? He smiled at us happily.
Im going on my first trading journey with some friends,
and we need some tapestries, dried fruit that would last a
while, some salt, a little gold, beads, and rubies. And I was
also wondering if we could borrow 7 camels, for our long
trip? I asked, out of breath. He probably doesnt have all of
it, but I really hope he does because he always gives us
discounts, and sometimes even for free. Him and my dad are
friends, thats why we get the consistent sales.
Got it all, and in the hand full! he exclaimed joyfully,
Not the camels of course, those animals weigh about 1,300
lbs! He said while laughed.

He showed us where everything was, and we got about

everything we needed, and we would be picking up the
camels tomorrow morning. I couldnt wait!

7/26/1803
Today I leaped out of bed, and put my clothes on that I
would be traveling in, for today was the day I travel to far and
beyond places that I have never ever been too. I am so
excited. I quickly eat breakfast.
Be careful, dont make any bad decisions out their, the
desert isnt forgiving! My mother hollered at me on my out
of the house.
I wont, Ill be very careful out there, and I have Ama to
take care of me! I yelled back at her, just turning onto the
sidewalk.
I know.. bye!! she responded cheerfully.
My brother was carrying the food, the tent and his
clothes, and I was carrying the trade Items and blankets, and
my clothes. As we walked we gathered our friends, I was
bringing my friends Kara, who is 16, the same age as me,
Mihiela who is 18, and Sheila, who is 15. My brother is
bringing one friend with him, his name is Japaul, and he is 20
years old. It is all of our first time going on a trade journey,
(except Ama, he has gone when he was young with my
parents) we are all really excited!!
Our first destination is Timbuktu, we are going there
because they have a lot of rugs, and tapestries, and people
with trade valuable things for them. The journey from Gao to
Timbuktu is 199 miles, so we have a while to go till we get

there. To get there we decided to go around the Niger river,

instead of through it because it is very long, and powerful,
and we have no boats, and camels dont swim, so it would be
awfully tricky.
We were on our 3rd hour of traveling, our camels were
very comfortable, and surprisingly, very fast. When we
reached Timbuktu, near the border, we met a Arabian man,
named Tocka, he owns a house next to the border, and had
many visitors come and borrow things from his on their way
to other places. He said that he could let us use his big tent
for traveling, because he hadnt in 13 years, and probably
wouldnt again. He also told us that his son was traveling, and
coming back from Tunis, and that we might see him, he gave
us a picture of him, he looked a lot like Tocka, his name was
Iman (which means faith in Arabic) he was a teacher for
young children in Arabia. We said our thank yous, and kept
venturing into town.
We had entered a place in Timbuktu where a lot of
people go, to get meats, and livestock, so there were lots of
people there, people shouting yelling, animals and flies were
everywhere. My brother said that not very far away was the
market, where we would be trading our items, for the goods
of Timbuktu. Which were mostly tapestries, salt, and gold.
Some tapestries are very valuable and unique, and what we
want are those.
I look behind me to see if everyone was here, and I see
Kara, almost asleep on her camel right behind me, her long
brown hair had fallen out of its braids, and was now browsing
in the wind.
You ok, we are almost at our resting point. I asked her,
springing her back to reality.

Oh, me, Yahh! I am so excited to meet Taun Nin! The

legendary Arabian Tapestry maker!! She said hyperly.
Suddenly pulsing with a hole lot of energy.
I look back at Shilla, she is wide awake, and jotting down
notes in her notebook. Her eyes are quickly flashing around,
on everyone's faces, and all over our scenery. When she
finally rests her eyes on me, I tell her the same things. And
she just nods of, and continues examining people. I look
forward, to where Mihiela and the boys were riding, they were
talking about how far we are going, and how it will take up to
40 days to get to Tunis, traveling 36 miles a day. Considering
we are traveling 1,472 miles in all, that is pretty quick.
Were almost there! Yelled my brother, in the lead. We
were passing the crowded area, and entering a little bridge,
to get across a little stream that had trickled out of the Niger
River.
Yay!!! Hollered Mihiela, waving her hands in the air.
Where are we staying? Asked Kara, calmly braiding her
hair again.
In Tio Yami Ja, I have never stayed there, but I have
always wanted too, and now we get to! Ama Burst into
exciting jumps.
As we approach the newer side of Timbuktu, Mihiela is
the first one to jump of her camel, and run up to it. It was the
Tio Yami Ja, me and my family have been saving money to
stay here for a while, and they gave it to us, so we could stay
here. It was a big white building, it had paintings, and murals
all over it. They were off flowers, and salt, and gold. It was a
very historic building, and many people come to it each day,
just for a peek. We tied our Camels into the stables, then
walked up the big stairs, and inside the huge doors. We saw
women walking around in fancy dresses, and big skirts. And

the men in black, or tan three piece suits. We looked at the

ceiling and realized the big shandaar, that was hanging down
over us.
There were flowers in pretty vases everywhere, they
smelled so good, like we were in a garden. The sun was
shining through the stained glass windows, and the ceiling
was a dome, covered in stained glass. After we checked in,
we quickly walked over to our room. It was so big, the view
was right outside, into the market, where we needed to do
our trading.
This is amazing. I said to Ama, I cant believe Mom
and Dad gave us this room, without them,
Yeah, we will probably be treating them like kings for
the next few weeks, when we get back. He said laughing.
Everyone fell about laughing.
As we changed out of our sandy clothes, we got out our
trading items, and walked out to the market.
We traded 1 pounds of salt, for 2 beautiful tapestries.
And one man wanted our gold, so we traded him 1 pound of it
for a whole bunch of different kinds or dried fruits, and
spices. One woman just gave Mihiela a big wool blanket, it
was very soft, and we thanked her very many times.
That night, we slept well, knowing that this would be our
last time in civilisation for a long time.

7/29/1803
We have been traveling for a long time, and I havnt had time
to write in my journal yet. We have traveled a very long ways,
today we reached Reegan, the oasis. We found shade under a
fig tree, and set up our tent.

I sure am happy that Tocka gave us his tent, we really

needed it. said Japaul. He pounded a stick into the ground,
and tied our camels up to it, next to the water so they could
drink. The oasis was a big area filled with trees, and water, It
was a paradise for the people who come through here.
Yeah, it was very thoughtful of him. said Shilla, as she
set up her sleeping bag under the tent. The tent was a big
cloth tent, it was very wide, and only had 3 walls, so that the
wind would be blocked by the one side.
We were walking up a sand dune (because they surround
the oasis), when we saw a fat tailed scorpion. My father had
taught me all about them, they could kill you if you got stung
by them, but Ama knew what to do with them to eat them.
He pulled out his pocket knife, and pressed it into the sand,
then cut its head of, and its tail, and put it in a small bag he
had on his waist.
We can eat those for dinner tonight, I will find a couple
more, then we can make a fire and cook them. He exclaimed
happily.
EWW!!, thats really gross! We all said, except Japaul,
who was trying to hide the disgusted face he was covering by
his headscarf.
After Ama, and Japaul had caught a few more scorpions.
They made a fire with two rocks, and we cooked them. They
didnt taste that good, but what else did we have, so we
crammed them into our mouths. That night, we all made sure
their were no holes, or spots for the creatures to get through,
then we fell fast asleep, after all the travel today, we
deserved it.

7/37/1803
Today, we are still on our way to Tunis, we dont have an
exact location right now because we are surrounded by sand
dunes, once again. Today we ran into a few Arabian people,
they were on their way back from Djorf Torba, Algeria. I have
always wanted to go their, but my parents say when Im
older. They told us that they had traded boiled candies for
gold, and they needed more, we gave them some of our gold,
and they gave us 5 bags of boiled candies, they were so
sweet, I could eat them all day.
One interesting thing I learned about them, is that they
eat boiled candies, and dried fruit, and figs. They also told us
that if you see a group of 8 men, that you have to try and
avoid them, because they are bandits, and might think you
have a valuable item they want.
Thanks for the tip! We said to them when they were
leaving.
No problem, it was nice running into you fine group,
hope you have good travels! Said a man named Ipar.
That day we covered lots of ground, and we were almost
there. I am so excited.
7/40/1803
Today we were walking in a very rocky land, we call this kind
of land the bahamas, because it is kind of flat, and has rocks
spread out all across it.
We were almost out of gold, because we had traded
most of it already, but I had saved my tapestries for the food
and water for our way back, in Tunis. Kara had made about 15
beautiful necklaces for trading also, she had only traded one,
for a headscarf in Timbuktu.

When we were walking, all the sudden Mihiela, and I fell

into the ground, wait no quicksand, Mother warned we of this,
it looks exactly like regular dirt, just a little bit deeper. Right
when we fell, it felt like we were being pulled down by the
earth. Ama and Japaul told us to stop wriggling and slowly
army crawl out. But all we cared about was getting out, I
army crawled out, it was hard, when I got out I was covered
in wet sand. Ama pulled Mihiela out, she was very happy to
get out, and back on her camel. We kept going, more aware
of the quicksand this time.
7/38/1803
We were walking over a sand dune when who do we see, the
six bandits that Ipar was telling us to avoid. They were resting
under a fig tree, we tried to stop and go around, but they had
already seen us. They walked right up to us, and my brother
and Japaul tried to defend us, but they weren't very good at
it.
The bandits ignored them, and went on with rummaging
through all our belongings, and throwing all our clothes out
into the sand. When they left we found out they took 2 of my
Tapestries, and 4 of Karas necklaces, and Shillas camel, to
add on their 9 camels they had trailing along behind them. So
Shilla and I had to ride with each other on my Camel for the
rest of the trip. Luckily it was only a couple days left till we
would get there.
On our the rest of our travel, we snacked on dried fruit
and boiled candies, our water was running low, since the last
time we refilled them was at the Reagan oasis. We had to
share the rest of the water, until we new we could get some
more.
7/40/1803

AFTERNOON:
I was so overjoyed, we saw Iman (Tocka's son), on our way
there , and he said that we only had about 3 hours left of
traveling.
Do you know a man named Ipar, he was traveling back
to Timbuktu, and told us to watch out for the bandits. They
got us anyway. I said, scooting up a little from Shilla.
Oh, Ipar, me and him were very close in Tunis, me and
him shared a house together when we were staying in the
same town, we even prayed together, five times a day. He
said. I do remember that my teacher, Mrs. Opal told us how in
Arabia, people pray five times a day, and that it shows that
they are a true Arab, and that they like being one too.
How many gods to you believe, because we believe in
? Said Shilla, than she started listing of the gods we
believe in, then she mumbled of, and kept listening.
We believe in one god, his name is Allah, that is usually
who we pray to, when we do the 5 prayers a day. He said.
We were still on our camels, and we needed to be on our way,
so we could get to Tunis in daylight.
Well, thank you for the facts. Said Japaul, But we
probably should be on our way, since we want to get to Tunis
in the daylight.
Do you know what time of day it is by any chance?
Said Ama.
Iman looked at the sun, a couple times, then at the sand
dunes, then at us, and said, It is precisely 3:30. He said, It
was nice seeing you guys, Ill tell my father we met! He said
to us.
Ok, hope to see you again! Kara said back.
EVENING:

We were so close, I just new it, the sun was getting low on the
horizon, and we were getting tired. Just when we started
losing hope, we saw the light.
The lights were like a mirage, glittering in the sunset. It
was so beautiful, I think even the camels noticed it, because
they started to walk a little faster toward it.
7/41/1803
It took us a little longer than we had hoped to actually get to
Tunis, since it was at the edge of the cost. So we set up
camp, and went the rest of the way in the morning. We got
there in the morning, and were very hungry.
When we entered Tunis, we were so happy, and hungry.
So we went and ate at our friend's favorite restaurant that
lives here. The name of it is LaoPette, it had the best Bobotie,
which is a meat lasagna, with cheese on top. And Allocco, it
is a chili pepper, onions, and egg dish. When we walked in,
they sat us down at the best spot in the house, the window
seats, where you can see right out into the North Atlantic
Ocean, there are many boats, and people swimming. They all
looked so happy.
I got out my notebook, and wrote a letter to my family,
in my best handwriting:
Dear Jokomba, Keari, and Leisha,
This trip has been amazing, we have met many interesting
people along the way, and have had a couple unexpected visitors.
I am so thankful for you guys for giving me this opportunity, and
time to define me, I hope I have proven myself to you all. We had
so much fun at the Tio Yami Ja, it was so beautiful and unique. We
learned more about the ways of Arabia, and even met some
Arabic people. We had a few close encounters, but I will tell you

all the details when I get home. It was all worth it, and I wouldnt
hesitate to do it again.
Sincerely,
Kesi Miola