West Africa with Far Fung Places

I went to GHANA, BURKINA FASO and MALI with Far Fung Places (1914 Fell St., San Francisco, CA 94117; phone 800/410-9811 or visit www.farfungplaces.com), Nov. 18-Dec. 12, ’04. The land cost was $6,000. The small group was led by the company owner, Kathleen Fung, who is energetic, concerned about her clients and extremely well organized.

If you like adventure and warm weather, visiting local tribes, shopping for fascinating souvenirs, having opportunities to take interesting photos and experiencing unique cultures, this is the trip for you. It was arduous at times but so worthwhile an experience.

We stayed in the best-available places and did not have to sleep on the roof in the Dogon country but in clean, sparsely furnished rooms with connecting bathrooms in the encampment.

Overall, the food was abundant, considering the poverty in those countries, and the meals were well balanced. Kathleen was careful about maintaining sanitary food conditions to the point where she observed the meals being prepared to make sure we didn’t become ill. For the first time, I didn’t lose weight as I customarily do on third-world trips.

Most impressive was the way she handled a checkpoint stop in Burkina Faso. The military ordered us out of our small bus for a mandatory search. Kathleen, a petite woman, stood her ground to the Muslim military officer, telling him, “No one will leave this bus, but you may come in and search.” A smile or two after a tense moment, he let us go on our way.

— BARBARA VIRDEN, Santa Ana, CA