Follow along my "River" of thoughts as I attempt to re-capture the essence of my trip down the Bani River in a pirogue (PIH-ROAG) guided by my friend Alliye (AL-LEE-YEH).

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Life on the river--

             the pirogue swirls lazily

                      through muddy water.



                            Alliye tells me,

                  "Listen!" to cattle lowing...

             they graze on the banks.



        I smell the green grass

and gaze at the high blue sky.

       A sense of peace here.



            The River Bani

                   near the mud-village, Djenne,

                            on the Niger's banks.



                      Donkeys cross the bridge.

         Women, baskets on their heads 

walk to the market. 



They walk from nearby

        Bobo and Fulani towns

              three kilometers away.



                Bringing sacks of grain,

                     or cloths to the Grand Marche,

                          they stroll, hips swaying.

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We continue past

       under the bridge, around the

           bend in the river.



              	 For navigation,

                      Alliye dips a long pole

                                 into the water.



                     He hits bottom, and...

                   slowly, the pirogue moves up......

           against the current.





        Alliye, eighteen

               comes from Djenne. He's lived near

                                the river always.



                                   He knows how to fish

                       for the capitaine that swim

           through the murky depths.



                 He can balance well

          on the shaky pirogue that

   almost overturns. 



   Five of us sit here.

        Camille guides us on our trip.

               Alliye in front.

                   Then, in the middle

                             Miranda, Alex and me,

                                  A boatman stands, steers...

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                      Pirogues, like this one,           

                   cross the river on journeys

                  between villages.



        Hear the waves lapping,

           The river flows timelessly.

                          Slowly we cross it.