The Bandits of Mbam--A flashback to an unforgettable ride
On Wednesday, November 8, 2006, I accompanied my cousin, Pape, and brothers, Jo and Badara, to take a woman home to her village via the horse-drawn cart. We left her village at dusk. On the way home, Pape stopped the cart and took several bundles of recently harvested peanuts from an adjacent field and threw them onto the cart. I coined us the bandits of Mbam; my brothers loved it.We rearranged ourselves so as to use the newly acquired bundle of peanuts as a backrest. And then we set off again, bouncing along the sand road, far from all forms of civilization. The last glimmers of sunlight slowly disappeared. There were no people, no lights, no blaring television sets. It was just us, the cart and horse, the baobab and mango trees dotting the landscape silhouetted against the late evening sky, and the farms stretching for as far as the eye could see. The sky was magnificent, saturated with twinkling stars. We continued along, the horse seemingly familiar with the route, and Pape conducting when need be. I savored every moment of the ride; I was so happy. It was too perfect, sitting there, cracking and eating our peanuts, taking pictures, laughing, talking and joking, the country setting trotting past us. I was sure that at that very moment, there was absolutely nothing I could be doing that would be cooler than riding, under the cover of the night, with the bandits of Mbam.
posted by Hannah Gelder @ 4:03 PM
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