The lovely Tristan Ra left us yesterday morning, having more or less transformed the surroundings of the hotel, and inspired me to be more creative. Dolly will miss him as well as me. Tristan believed firmly in talking French to Dolly the donkey, rather than employing the stick, the Malian way of persuasion. When his conversation failed to move Dolly, he resorted to the ancient carrot trick, but Dolly remained unimpressed: carrots present no temptation for Malian donkeys.