Bamako, Mali

from the hills

One day while Eric was working, Ibrahim taximan -- not to be confused with Ibrahim from the office, or Ibrahim the consultant -- took me for a drive around Bamako. Ibrahim's native language is Malinke, French is his second language, and he speaks not a word of English. I know my French numbers and foods (the minimum for travel survival) and not much more than that. You'd be surprised at how much we were able to communicate without a common language.

The first place Ibrahim took me was Pont G. It's one of the hills surrounding Bamako, with a small village and a hospital and an overlook of the city. (I wore that hat every day and those pants almost every day.)

On the adjacent hill is the presidential palace and grounds, which we exited quickly after an annoyed guardsmen started shouting at us. No photos of government buildings are allowed, especially not the green, lush grounds of the presidential palace, but I did get a photo of the well-maintained park nearby.

Later, Ibrahim took me to the Parc Biologique -- the zoo -- but it was too depressing (chimpanzees begging for food, crocodiles dead and stuffed) to take pictures.

at Le Grande Hotel

We stayed at the Grande Hotel in Bamako. The main building was under construction so the few rooms available were much reduced in price. While Eric was working, I spent hours at the hotel having a late petit dejeuner, watching the two English-language television channels in our air-conditionedroom (CNN and MNET, which showed TV series and movies) and reading by the pool. The staff was friendly and kind, and patient with my poor French. Thanks to them, I now answer to "Madame Eric."

The middle photo is not an especially flattering portrait of the Grande Hotel -- but I wanted to show you how many bats came out at dusk.

The photo on the right is a view from the Mande Hotel, where we had breakfast one morning. Salif Keita (the soccer player, not the singer) owns the Mande. In the foreground is a pirogue, a fishing boat; in the middle ground are women doing washing in the river; and in the background is central Bamako.

downtown, the Centre Commercial

Note the cathedral -- only 1% of Mali is Christian. 80 or 90% of the people are Muslim; they pray five times a day toward the East, and the men go to the mosque each day at one o'clock. We were in Mali during two major Muslim holidays, Mohammed's birthday and Mohammed's baptism.

The remaining portion of the population is animist.

The green SOTRAMA buses are crawling all over Bamako. You can usually safely cross the street in front of a taxi or a private car, but if you value your life, don't step in front of a SOTRAMA. Popular opinion is that the drivers all smoke marijuana. They personalize their buses with football heroes, heart-shaped cutouts, and photographs of Madonna.

An extremely common sight: a woman carrying a load on her head and a baby on her back. As she approaches you on the street, you can see only two little feet poking out on either side of her waist.

A flame tree, and the dry riverbed. When I took this photo, we were heading out of town, crossing the Niger via the "submersible bridge." It is the oldest of the three bridges in Bamako, made of stone and impassable after the rains have raised the river.

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