Far from my usual paddling haunts and a thousand miles from the sea I have been busy working on irrigation development in Mali for the past few weeks.
Trying to concentrate on work in the blazing sun, 40C in the shade, if there was any, the temptation of a local pirogue on this little side channel of the Niger river is hard to resist.
Even now, as the water nears its lowest in the year, there are many channels and inlets asking to be explored.
The boats have finely up turned bows and sterns, making them even harder to resist, but I must, MUST, get back to work.
