naturalfeature:bani river

So I Told These Nomads About the Big Bang… - Issue 101: In Our Nature
▻http://nautil.us/issue/101/in-our-nature/so-i-told-these-nomads-about-the-big-bang

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To explain her motivations as a writer, Anna Badkhen quotes the Polish poet Zbigniew Herbert: “you have little time you must give testimony.” Badkhen recently stopped by the Nautilus office to sit for an interview and take us behind the scenes of “The Men Who Planted Trees,” her cover story for the Spring 2014 Nautilus Quarterly. The title refers to a village of fishermen in Mali who are reforesting a stretch of the Bani River to stem the mudslides that threaten their livelihoods. “They became volunteer conservationists, planting back the bush,” she writes.View Video Badkhen met the villagers while walking across West Africa with nomadic Fulani cattle-herders while doing research for a forthcoming book. Born and raised in the Soviet Union, Badkhen, 38, is something of a nomad herself, a (...)

The Men Who Planted Trees - Issue 101: In Our Nature
▻http://nautil.us/issue/101/in-our-nature/the-men-who-planted-trees-rp

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An hour before sunup the Bani River uncoils through the dark Sahel in bright silver curves, a reflection of a day not yet dawned, hardships not yet known, hopes not yet broken. Onto such a magical surface the Bozo fishermen of Sindaga shove off with bamboo poles and float downstream in redwood pirogues, one silent man per boat. The fishermen work standing up: solitary Paleolithic silhouettes keeping perfect balance against the river’s luminescence, each man one with his boat like some pelagic centaur, performing one of mankind’s oldest rites. They cast their diaphanous seines into the night. Handmade sinkers kiss the surface, pucker it lightly, drag the nets under. By the time daybreak trims burgundy the sparse savannah, the fishermen row their day’s first catch back to the village. In (...)

Weaving the World’s Stories Like an Expert Carpet-Maker - Facts So Romantic
▻http://nautil.us/blog/weaving-the-worlds-stories-like-an-expert-carpet_maker

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To explain her motivations as a writer, Anna Badkhen quotes the Polish poet Zbigniew Herbert: “you have little time / you must give testimony.” Badkhen recently stopped by the Nautilus office to sit for an interview and take us behind the scenes of, “The Men Who Planted Trees,” her cover story for the Spring 2014 Nautilus quarterly. The title refers to a village of fishermen in Mali who are reforesting a stretch of the Bani River to stem the mudslides that threaten their livelihoods. “They became volunteer conservationists, planting back the bush,” she writes. You can see a preview of the article online, or read the whole story by buying the issue or subscribing to the print magazine. Badkhen met the villagers while walking across West Africa with nomadic Fulani cattle-herders while doing (...)

The Men Who Planted Trees - Issue 11: Light
▻http://nautil.us/issue/11/light/the-men-who-planted-trees

http://static.nautil.us/2953_e2f9247929b404b2fe98ba6f32301e3b.png

An hour before sunup, the Bani River uncoils through the dark Sahel in bright silver curves, a reflection of a day not yet dawned, hardships not yet known, hopes not yet broken. Onto such a magical surface the Bozo fishermen of Sindaga shove off with bamboo poles and float downstream in redwood pirogues, one silent man per boat. The fishermen work standing up: solitary Paleolithic silhouettes keeping perfect balance against the river’s luminescence, each man one with his boat like some pelagic centaur, performing one of mankind’s oldest rites. They cast their diaphanous seines into the night. Handmade sinkers kiss the surface, pucker it lightly, drag the nets under. By the time daybreak trims burgundy the sparse savannah, the fishermen row their day’s first catch back to the village. In (...)