aerial view of the desert - Mali

Amazing views as I flew from Gao to Bamako, in Mali.


I was lucky enough to get a seat in the cockpit for part of the way.
Impressed by the pilots...



This was my 2nd time in Timbuctu...last time travelled by boat and went to the desert.









Views from the plane - journeying from Gao region, north-east Mali, via Timbuktu and Mopti to Bamako, the capital

Back from the desert in Mali

Just got back to the Malian capital, Bamako, after spending the last week in the north-eastern Sahelian region..think desert, dust and camels!



It was an exhausting but inspiring trip



Its an extremely poor region; a food deficit area where people are struggling. Yet they are warm and friendly to visitors .



More pix to come..too tired to post now

'Mazing Mali

I love this country.
And I must have one of the best jobs in the world that allows me the opportunity to travel to such great places





I last visited 13 years ago...and things have changed. Before, the place was pitch black at night save for a few cafe restaurants. Now, the city has electricity, there are lots of cars and motorbikes...



But the charm is still there.












I have been back less than 2 days and head up to the north-east to Gao region tomorrow. But in my disoriented haze on the first day, severely sleep deprived, i stumbled across this great wedding.

Sri Lanka tea farmers hostage to the weather

Sri Lanka is one of the world’s biggest tea exporters. But production in the first three months of the year fell by more than 41% - the largest drop in a decade. The main reason was a prolonged dry spell, affecting tea cultivation and the income of those working in the industry. Drought-like conditions – not just in Sri Lanka, but in other major tea producing countries – have created a global shortfall of tea; pushing up consumer prices. But workers in the industry are not feeling the benefits of the price hikes.

CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE SUNDERBANS, INDIA

Daily life is a constant struggle for tens of thousands of people still reeling from the devastating impact of Cyclone Aila which struck eastern India in late May leaving 138 dead and tens of thousands homeless in one of the worst disasters that West Bengal has faced in decades. The hardest hit areas were in the low-lying Sunderbans delta home to the worlds largest mangrove forest