A remote village in Mali speaks a language that hides as much as it communicates. Did this unique tongue evolve to shield escaped slaves?
WHEN Westerners say "Timbuktu", it is as if we are talking about the ends of the earth. But the city's remoteness is nothing compared to the small village of Bounou, tucked inside a rugged cul-de-sac valley 250 kilometres to the south. No European had ever visited the surrounding Bandiagara region until French colonial officer Louis Desplagnes reached it in 1904 – and even he didn't get as far as Bounou.
Abbie Hantgan is one of the few Westerners to have reached the village in recent years. She can still recall the last leg of her journey, after an arduous two-day bus trip to the small market town of ...
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