This is of course Keita heartland.

But nevertheless, old Manding will not reveal itself in the shanty towns of Guinea. Old Manding is an illusive territory of the spirit.

What happened was unimaginable: An acquaintance of Levy’s called him on his mobile - he had dialled the wrong number. Levy asked casually what he was up to , and he said he was in Kangaba for the ‘Kaba-Blo’. Kangaba is the Manding town of southern Mali par excellence. The Kaba-Blo is the ancient rite of the replastering of the walls and the renewing of the straw roof on the sacred hut of the Malinke: the Kaba where the secrets and fetishes of the ancestors are kept. This event takes place, like the return of the Flying Dutchman and like all good rites worth their salt, every seven years. It was scheduled for the following day! I am not a mathematician, but the chance of this must be 7X 365, thus one in 2555 according to my calculations!