Visit to Timbuktu Posted on December 2nd, 2004 by Lindsey Reimnitz

Namaste!

I am writing from our last field visit in the state of Andhra Pradesh. We are very close to the border of Karnataka, and actually, we are staying in a place called Timbaktu. Timbaktu’s mission as a collective is to help people in the area live with sustainable lifestyles. We will spend four days here before returning to Visthar to finish out the semester.

We woke this morning at 6:00 so that we could freshen up and have our ritual tea and coffee before departing at 6:30 for our journey into the hills. Timbaktu is in a valley between the hills, built on rocky wasteland. We’ve definitely had some ‘interesting’ rides in various types of vehicles during our time in India, but I think I can safely say that this was the worst. We fit 17 people in a van not much larger than the American mini-van, and the road that we took could have been more easily navigated on foot. However, I do believe that many of us were able to sleep on the bus regardless of the bumpy adventure; goes to show how one adapts quickly to somewhat adverse circumstances! But alas, we arrived at our destination around 8:00. Upon getting down from the van, we set off on a hike through what our guides referred to as the ‘forest,’ which actually compared with the grasslands of my home in South Dakota. The trees were short and scattered across the land, and most of the vegetation we encountered was covered completely by thorns, their only defense against predators like the wild boar.

After hiking for about 1/2 hour, we came to a clearing filled with rocks. This is where we had our breakfast of oranges (with their natural green peels), boiled eggs, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. At this point in our semester trip, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches compare to a feast of prime-rib at home, an all-you-can-eat bonanza for everyone. Some days we look forward to the PB & J sandwiches, mostly because they are a comforting reminder of home and also because they treat our stomachs well. When we had finished breakfast, we set out again to complete our journey to our destination for the morning, a place in the hills where we would be building a fire-break.

I was definitely excited that we would be doing some manual labor. Our coordinator for the week, Dinesh, outlined our task for the morning in building the fire-break. Fire-breaks are controlled fires in grasslands and forests that clear a strip about 30 feet in width. The logic is that, if there is a fire, it will stop when it hits the fire-break because there is nothing left to catch fire.

With that short introduction, we were handed large branches resembling coconut or palm branches, and Dinesh told us that we would be the ones controlling the fire and preventing it from spreading across the hills.

One of the men with us lit the fire and we spread out along a stretch of the specified land hoping to utilize this opportunity to get out all of our pent-up aggression. For the most part, or at least to begin with, the fire kept within the marked out boundaries, but as the wind picked up, we had to swat at the fire with all our might to keep it from spreading. It was exhilarating–seeing the fire come, and then overpowering one of nature’s most destructive forces with our own. As the fire crept and sometimes raced toward us, we felt a surge of heat, and the thickness of the smoke swallowed us instantly. All of our senses were alert: listening to the crackling sound of the fire, watching it move from blade to blade, inhaling the dense smoke, tasting the ash, and feeling the burn in our eyes and on our skin. The whole process took about one hour, but within that time, we were completely exhausted, despite the exhilaration.

I could have slept the rest of the day. But we hiked back a little ways, had a discussion in the watchman’s hut (the watchman stays there so that he can protect the land from encroachers, etc.), and then we decided to go with Dinesh to a stream nearby to go swimming.

Again we hiked through rocks and thorns to the stream. But it was worth every sticker in our clothing. None of us had swimsuits, yet it didn’t matter at all. As soon as we reached the water hole, we all jumped in fully clothed. The water was beautiful–so cool and fresh and alive. We joked that our friends and family would never believe that we actually did it, and that they, of course, would not have joined in given the opportunity. I can’t even describe how good it felt to play in the stream after a productive morning in the fields.

We had lunch just down the stream, and then we headed back to our circular huts at Timbaktu. My day ended perfectly with a beautiful outdoor shower. Six-feet-tall granite walls encircle a small area facing the West so that its users can pleasurably admire the lazy sun setting between the hills in the near distance. The ground of the shower area is covered with rocks, and there is a slab of concrete directly beneath the shower-head to stand on. Actually, the shower was horrible: barely any water came out of the shower-head, and what did was cold. The view and atmosphere, however, could make up for a lifetime of low-pressure, luke-cold (our new term) water. I will never forget the fresh air, the shadowy hills, and the sense of freedom I felt during those glorious 6 minutes.