The water keeps rising. We can take about 5 inches more, then it will arrive to the level it reached in 2010. If it reaches further... well, no more Hotel Djenne Djenno...

At the end of November Mali normally offers a unique Sahel spectacle: the legendary crossing of the cattle at Diafarabe (see previous blogs- early December 2007 and 2010). This is when the Malian herds cross from the northern shores of the Niger where they have been grazing during the rainy season, banished from the lands where the farming population of Mali grow their corn, rice and millet. The return of the cattle is a finely negociated moment, only settled when all the village chiefs are united: the harvests are done, the cattle can come back.

This year it is not only the abundant rains that threaten the crops. Where the fields are not inundated by water the cattle are often destroying the crops: the Fulani herdsmen have not dared crossing the river to the rebel held northern shores where the Jihadists hold sway and where they fear losing their cattle. Many have kept their animals on the southern shores causing havoc with the harvests and thereby rekindling ancient conflicts...