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December 18, 2007

Mosque Climbing

Charlie is back in England for a wedding this week. So a big shout out to EMMA AND SIMON who are getting married on Saturday. Congratulations! (And Charlie, please come back in time for Christmas!)

I'm staying in Ouaga to get some writing done while Charlie's away. These are the first writing days I've had since getting back to Africa, and I'm enjoying them very much. Finished the last tweaks to 'Sophie and the Pancake Plot' (hooray, hooray, the trilogy is complete) and resuming work now on 'Hacking Timbuktu' - the hacking/parkour/treasure hunting African adventure.

You know those mud-brick West African mosques with the sticks poking out of the minarets (the sticks serve as scaffolding for annual repairs)? Whenever I see one I think 'That would make a great location for a chase scene!' What I relief, I finally get the opportunity to write that scene. In fact, the book kicks off with it.

We had some visitors from New Zealand a couple years back - two fifty-something ladies - who talked about a time they climbed up onto the roof of one of the most famous mosques in Mali (Bankass) and preached from the top. Oh dear, not the most sensitive way to go about interfaith dialogue, but quite a striking image nonetheless. And needless to say, they attracted quite a crowd!

I know there is a current trend for Urban Exploration (examination of the normally unseen or off-limits parts of human civilization) in Europe and the States. Anyone out there ever shinned up a minaret? Or, for that matter, a steeple?

Posted by sahelsteve at December 18, 2007 03:06 PM