Speaking a little French, I enjoyed talking to the people of those central African countries where French is also the second language of much of the population.
I remember waking up in our tents in that part of Mali, where the soil is red and people infrequent, to learn that we were short of diesel due to a fuel tank leak. As we pulled onto the road from the bush, I spotted a young man walking along the road and it was decided that I should ask him where the nearest petrol station might be.
The conversation went like this:
Me: Bonjour
Youth: Bonjour
Me: Nous avons un petit problème et nous avons besoin de trouver de l’essence.
Youth: Bien sur, à 31 kilomètres
Me: Splendide, merci beaucoup
Youth: De rien, est ce que vous avez une cigarette?
Me: Non, désolé, nous ne fumons pas.
Youth: De l’eau?
Me: Pardon, nous n’avons ni de l’essence ni de l’eau. Je suis désolé
Youth: Okay, bonne chance
Needless to say 31 km later, we find a stall selling petrol; how he knew it was 31km away, I don’t know. Pity we didn't even have any water for him.
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