January 12, 2008, Hotel Boctou, Timbuktu, Mali

Boubakar Touré, the owner of the Hotel Boctou, told me that there had been a conference in December 2007 on griots at the hotel here in Timbuktu. He mentioned that a fellow named Paul Raukin has been gathering stories in Timbuktu aided by a guide named Azima. He also mentioned Madame Touré Zalia-Maïga, at the University of Arizona at Tempe. And a fellow named Salem Ould el Hajh (tel. 9407926) has English translations of the transcripts of the griots who spoke in Songhaï (or Songhui or ???) and Tamchek languages at the conference.

Travelers Joshua and Heather Tallis, who I met on the route from Essakane to Timbuktu, recommended reading the books entitled Salt and Cod, as well as a book called Timbuktu by Marq de Villiers and Sheila Hirtle.