Dish: Rice in tomoto sauce, fish, casava and brinjal
Venue: Le Village Restaurant Sénégalais
Location: Avenue Cheick Zahid, Hamdallaye, Bamako
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Mohamad Be Hadani
On the third day my itinerary is to visit a Touareg family. The weather in the evening normally after 4.00pm is quite good, as the sun not hot as at noon and with the wind blowing indeed it is the right time to promenade.
As scheduled with my tour guide, Al-Hadi Toure came around 5.00pm. I proceeded with him to visit Mohamad Be Hadani family.
Mohamad showing his skill in handicrafts making
Mohamad’s came from a village about 250km north of Timbuktu in the Sahara Desert. Normally he comes to Timbuktu twice in a year for barter trading. He will brings salt slabs, goats or cattle for exchange with rice, flour, millet, sugar etc. Besides that his family also sells Touareg’s jewelery and handicrafts.
Mohamad also a blacksmith making sword and knife
The Touareg are sometimes called the “Blue People” because the indigo pigment in the cloth of their traditional robes and turbans stained the wearer’s skin dark blue. The traditional indigo turban is still preferred for celebrations, and generally Touaregs wear clothing and turbans in a variety of colors.
Mohamad Be Hadani’s products. His price is expensive. You have to bargains. As touareg tradition, the price bargaining also takes three times or three offer prices
Much Touareg art is in the form of jewelery, leather and metal saddle decorations called Trik, and finely crafted swords. Among their products are: Tanaghilt or Zakkat (the ‘Agadez Cross’ or ‘Croix d’Agadez’); the Touareg Takoba, many beautiful gold and silver-made necklaces called ‘Takaza‘; and earrings called ‘Tizabaten‘
As Touareg tradition, Mohamad offers me touareg tea. The serving of mint tea is a ceremonial form, especially when prepared for a guest. Whereas cooking is women’s business, the tea is a male affair: the head of family prepares it and serves to the guest, usually three glasses of tea.
Mohamad’s wife and daughter
Preparation of touareg tea normally of green tea (usually Chinese tea, e.g. gunpowder, chun mee, or zhu cha), fresh mint leaves in large quantity and a lot of sugar. The tea is first put in the teapot and adding a small quantity of boiling water, that is poured out after one minute, to makes the tea tasted less bitter. Mint and sugar are added. Tea and water then heated until its boiling. After three to five minutes, a glass is served and poured back in the pot two to three times, in order to mix the tea. Tea is poured into glasses from height in order to swirl loose tea leaves to the bottom of the glass.
Mohamad pumping air to make the charcoal burns
Drinking of three small cups of touareg tea having the meaning as the saying “the first cup is sweet for strength; the second is sweet for life; and the third is sweet for love”.
Serving the touareg tea
To my friends out there who always asked for beautiful touareg’s girl, sorry to tell you, Mohamad did not wish to discuss about that with me, probably I am not handsome and rich enough. But to console you all, here is the photo of one and the most beautiful touareg girl from Timbuktu.
(Sorry friends, it is only a reproduction from Malitel’s table calendar that I found in Hotel Bouctou’s reception desk)
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Entrepreneurship and/or Hardship
Entrepreneurship and/or Hardship.. and now is rainy season and the peddler selling the umbrellas
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Day two of my visit to Timbuktu was visiting Touareg people. The visit was with riding of camel. The camel ride took about one hour to reach their temporary village as they are nomadic people and come to Timbuktu for trading. Nevertheless their village is in the Sahara Desert
Ready for camel riding to the Touareg village
The Tuareg or Touareg are a nomadic pastoralist people, and are the inhabitants of the Saharan interior of North Africa.
During my camel riding, I saw tents of Bella People. They used to works as slaves to Touareg until French stop them
The Touareg people are predominantly Muslim Sunni since the 16th century. They inhabit a large area covering almost all the middle and Western Sahara and the north-central Sahel. The Sahel (Sahil in Arabic means, shore, border or coast of the Sahara desert) is a semi-arid tropical savanna region in Africa, which forms the transition between the Sahara desert to the north and the more fertile region to the south. The Sahel runs from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the east, covering an area of 3,053,200 square kilometers. The countries of the Sahel today include Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Sudan, and Eritrea.
Sahara Desert in Timbuktu
Another view of Sahara with sand dune
The most famous Touareg symbol is the Tagelmust (also called éghéwed in Malian Tamasheq, or referred to as a Cheche, pronounced: Shesh from Berber), an often blue indigo coloured veil called Alasho. The men’s facial covering originates from the belief that such action wards off evil spirits, but most probably relates to protection against the harsh desert sands as well; in any event, it is a firmly established tradition. Men begin wearing a veil when they reach maturity which usually conceals their entire face excluding their eyes and the top of the nose. The Touareg always referred as the “Blue People” because they always wear their traditional robes and turbans in dark blue colour.
Modern water well complete with hand pump. Touareg man providing water to the cattle
Touareg woman with the cattle
Touareg’s art is in the form of jewellery, leather and metal saddle decorations called Trik, and finely crafted swords (Takoba), and handicrafts of many beautiful gold and silver-made necklaces called ‘Takaza’; and earrings called ‘Tizabaten’. Touareg also are renowned and respected warriors. The Touareg warrior attire consists of a Takoba (sword), Allagh (lance) and Aghar (shield) made of antelope’s skin.
The touareg’s tent
Closer view of touareg’s tent, stove and kitchen utensils
Inside view of touareg’s tent. Too simple and basic
Traditional Touareg music consists of the moncord violin Anzad played often during night parties and a small tambour covered with goatskin called Tende, performed during camel races and horse races and other festivities. Traditional vocal songs called Asak (songs), and Tisiway (poems) sung by women and men during feats and social occasions.
Touareg woman pounding millet for dinner
Touareg woman. After I bought her jewellery items
The Touareg are a pastoral people, having an economy based on livestock breeding, trading, and agriculture, though there are also blacksmiths and caravan leaders. Today, some Touareg are experimenting with farming; some have been forced to abandon herding, and seek jobs in towns and cities.
Touareg men in Sahara
The Touareg today are found mostly in West Africa, but, like many in Northern Africa, were once nomads throughout the Sahara. Following the independence of African countries in 1960s, Touareg territory was artificially divided into modern nations: Niger, Mali, Algeria, Libya, and Burkina Faso
At the Western Gate of Sahara Desert
An evening in the Sahara Desert
The Desert Festival in Mali’s Timbuktu is the best place to see Touareg culture, dance and music. The Desert Festival is organised annually in month of January when the weather is cool and low as 15°C at night. Welcome to Timbuktu’s Desert Festival.
Riding the camel back to Hotel Bouctou
As you know, the Volkswagen’s SUV Touareg’s name is derived from this nomadic tribe Touareg.
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