Hotel le Fleuve Bamako

... the stuff we complain about doesn't hold a candle so we are fully committed to bringing this mantra home and implementing on a daily basis.

The travel was tough the past 2 weeks. 8+ hrs in the car for days, 15 hrs on the boat while camping outside, bathing with a bucket of wat** in the same hole used for all 'purposes' that we used in the ***** Riv** for 6 days, food stomach challenges, eating with our right hand (n/always for me..), military dramas which ...

... degrees in the shade. In a city where being poor is the norm, a nice dress, jewellery and some make up can separate you from the milieu and automatically indicates a certain status. This attitude manifests itself in so many ways - from the 'special vip' entrances to clubs to the way business is conducted in a stuffy, formal manner. To dress down is frowned upon - so remember to pack your best clothes if you are ever visiting Bamako! And don't forget to bring your party ...

... I was expecting a long drawn out battle for bags and snaking queues but we got through immigration in 10 minutes, had our bags in another 10 minutes and were out of the airport in a taxi in under half an hour!  Was I in Singapore? or Mali? The roads was wide two-lane highways, lined with bright street lights and ever so often we saw large roundabouts with impressive monuments. There was no sign of the abject poverty that I was steeling ...

... with the mild sand storm irritating my eyes, throat and nose to the point I was pleased to get inside to dusty restaurants and bars. We enjoyed a delicious meal of doe-balls with a succulent meat cass**ole, which provided relief to the chewy meat we've been enduring since Morocco. The journey back was "int**esting". We lined up early morning to pile into Toyota Landcruis**s - all of which had seen bett** days. We loaded up each vehicle with our gear and seven passeng ...

... and a few other guys in the office for husbands. Single ladies, this seems to be where all the men are at, although you may have to be wife number three, or four... I'm not able to upload any images yet so you'll need to be patient with me. Lets just say the sights have had my head swimming (the wide variety of things I have seen piled high on a scooter have been priceless) I'm off to practice my french as I will be venturing away from the safety net of Therese shortly. A bientot S

... to retire to our overpriced hotel room. The cost of living is expensive here, despite Mali being one of the poorest coutries in the world. Unfortunately, we had to stay here longer than expected, as everything was closed until 5th Jan. We went to a couple of concerts during that time, a guy playing a xylophone type instrument with old guys dancing until 1 am, and we went to a concert of traditional Touareg music where we ...

... again the roads are dotted with happy smiling people waving us by. We pass through larg** towns which are much more mod**n than Mauritania and nowh**e near as dusty - the roads actually look like roads! We discov** that it is a special day for Muslims... not sure what it's called but it involves sacrificing lots of goats and eating them. Thankfully the streets w**en't running red with blood and we didn't see any of the killings going on. Stopping und** a ...

... girls when it says Roxanne - yeah have a listen, you're pretty much drinking constantly. Very funny. They then started another card drinking game which was introduced by Tom. I helped Suzy out by hiding some of her cards... all was good until she asked for the Ace of diamonds which I was like you don't want that Suze, yes I do, no you don't, yes I do... so I handed it over and as a consequence she had to knock back a shot of the most ...

... mas não se esqueçam de me perguntar pelo resto da historia a proxima vez que nos encararmos pessoalmente. Este mano foi um contacto dos Terrakota, o mano Dauda o batera é que me deu o nome dele e eu fui a caça e de imediato simpatizamos um com o outro, o brother é 5 estrelas e foi um prazer discutir com ele sobre o nosso continente e os nossos lideres, politicos e artisticos. Ele tinha o mitico discurso do Thomas Sankara na conferencia africana das nações em Adis Abeba e todo ...

... accrue de la chaleur impossible en Mauritanie. Pt : Nené estou a precisar de ti, estou um pequeno ogre, se mandas isto para a Pixar entro no proximo Shrek. « Are we there yet ? » Isto foi 17 dias depois do inicio da viagem, em Nouadhibou.