listen to africa

In this soundscape, recorded just after dawn at Le Thiossane camp near Mbodiene, Senegal, you can hear the insects and birds living around the saltwater lagoon coming to life. We spent a lot of mornings and evenings listening to and watching the life of the lagoon, with the sea crashing in the distance. This was recorded in mono, just before our new mics arrived…

Date and time recorded: 06:24 local time, 4th September 2009
Location: Near Mbodiene, Senegal (view on map)
Equipment: Audio-Technica AT897 via FEL MicBooster MB-1 to Fostex FR2LE
Copyright: Listen to Africa
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As we’ve mentioned, it’s rainy season in Senegal. Outside our hut in Le Thiossane, Senegal, was a vase-shaped water collector, covered by a metal plate to keep out the leaves. When the rain fell on the plate, it made a wonderful drumming sound. We recorded this near the start of one lunchtime downpour, moving the microphone closer to the plate during the recording – and you’ll be able to hear the rain getting heavier as the recording goes on.

Date and time recorded: 12:07 local time, 6th September 2009
Location: Near Mbodiene, Senegal (view on map)
Equipment: Audio-Technica AT897 via FEL MicBooster MB-1 to Fostex FR2LE
Copyright: Listen to Africa
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Pirogues are small, wooden fishing boats common in this part of Africa. We took this pirogue from Fadhiout in Senegal to visit the nearby Ile aux Coquillages, or Island of Shells. As you’ll hear, this pirogue was punted by a wooden pole, although some pirogues are propelled by outboard motors, paddles or sails. The flat-bottomed pirogues are designed to be able to navigate shallow areas like these wetlands; you should also be able to hear the moving sand on the sea bed. Around us, groups of men fished with nets and older women waded through the water, feeling for oysters with their feet.

Date and time recorded: 13:04 local time, 2nd September 2009
Location: Near L’Ile aux Coquillages, Senegal (view on map)
Equipment: Audio-Technica AT897 via FEL MicBooster MB-1 to Fostex FR2LE
Copyright: Listen to Africa
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The rains in Senegal, West Africa, are a cause for celebration. In this downpour in St Louis, you can hear children playing. Around them, people were washing their clothes, scrubbing their goats and generally making the most of the rain.

Date and time recorded: 14:11 local time, 23rd August 2009
Location: St Louis, Senegal (view on map)
Equipment: Audio-Technica AT897 to Fostex FR2LE
Copyright: Listen to Africa
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One of the biggest joys of recording sounds is that you start to learn to listen. Our whole journey is turning into a (very long) soundwalk. Recording these drips percolating through rocks and dripping down ferns into a little stream at Terjit Oasis, I found myself deeply impressed by the musicality of the water (an impression that was probably amplified by the fact this was the first naturally occurring water we’d heard in our two months in the Sahara, apart from the ocean). One Mauritanian who’d never been to Terjit before said to us: “I never knew this kind of place existed: infinite water, coming down from God.”

Date and time recorded: 09:00 local time, 9th August 2009
Location: Terjit Oasis, Mauritania (view on map)
Copyright: Listen to Africa
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Ah, Terjit. On the evening of the day we left Atar, we crawled into Terjit Oasis – almost literally – with broken bikes and suffering bodies (more about all that soon, in the blog). Streams, rockpools (to swim in!), date palms, toads, glow worms, fireflies, cicadas, birds: a feast for our ears and eyes after two months of deserts and cities.

Date and time recorded: 06:50 local time, 9th August 2009
Location: Terjit Oasis, Mauritania (view on map)
Copyright: Listen to Africa
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A large, mixed group of terns, recorded at the Cap Blanc peninsula reserve in northern Mauritania. The group was dominated by Caspian Terns, but included other terns which we weren’t able to conclusively identify; the Little, Sandwich, Royal and Gull-Billed Terns are all found in this area.

Species: Sterna caspia and other terns
Common name (English): Caspian Tern and other terns
Date and time recorded: 14:30 local time, 30th July 2009
Location: Cap Blanc, Mauritania (view on map)
Copyright: Listen to Africa
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Mauritania’s 2.5 kilometre long iron ore train is usually described as the world’s longest train. We recorded this – our first attempt to record in stereo – by the train tracks in the outskirts of Nouadhibou on a very windy day, and getting very strange looks from the women walking past to collect their water.

Recorded on: 24th July 2009, 15:30 local time.
Location: Nouadhibou, Mauritania (view on map)
Copyright: Listen to Africa
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Read about our ride on the iron ore train »

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If the sounds section of the website has been a bit quiet of late, it’s because pedalling through the Sahara has been anything but. Wind. Almost constant wind. And, even though it’s meant we haven’t been able to record any birds here, we’ve learned to love this sound; it’s usually a tailwind. This is the sound of the wind blowing through a pile of rocks that marked a junction between a sand track and the main road.

Recorded on: 9th July 2009, 20:10 local time.
Location: The Sahara, Western Sahara (view on map)
Copyright: Listen to Africa

Recording this was really an experiment / learning experience for us but we thought we’d post it anyway; we loved Sidi Ifni and hope these sounds evoke a little of its atmosphere. Main lesson learned: cycling sandals (with metal cleats sticking out of the bottom) make the worst possible footwear for a sound recordist…

Date and time recorded: 21:40 local time, 8th June 2009
Location: Sidi Idni, Morocco (view on map)
Copyright: Listen to Africa

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