Kome Residence Bamako

... and were shown, with some degree of pride, a battered sign that was hanging from a tree that read “TAX”, the “I” having worn off long ago. There was only one official taxi in the lot and although it must have been a very proud car many years ago, in a land far away, it was a very sad looking vehicle in the here and now. It did, however, have 4 tires and it eventually started, the driver knew the hotel we ...

... th**e. We w**e two of the three in the entire city. The clip of Gao from the car with the music in the background paints the picture we think...<br><br>For kicks, we attached a military clip which we risked capturing. This happened many, many times. <br><br>To the travel**s we hung out with along the way (w**en't that many):<br><br>Good luck on your journey Conrad across the Sahara Des**t..hoping you find that Caravan. You will.<br><br>Patrick and Julie-we had a blast with you ...

... back while they work in the hot sun everyday. Endurance of social workers and ngos that fight bureaucracy and corruption. Endurance of the business men that deal with incompetence and red tape. Endurance of the common people as they live a hard life where even the simplest of things are difficult to accomplish. Endurance of the machines, of mud houses, of creatures, of farmers who survive the harsh sahelian climate. Endurance thrives in Mali. It simply has to. <br><br>

... bushcamping for the night.<br><br>Dist cov. = 359 km<br><br>18th - Drove through San and crossed by small boat over the Bani River for a guided tour of Djenne, our guide was a local school teacher. The tour was interesting, we learned about the different styles of mud builidings...moroccan and sudanese. Came into town on top of a bush taxi giving a good surrounding view of the area. The famous mud mosque in the center of town was impressive ...

... gifts to take home. Segou is on the ***** riv** and the market is really pretty big. In Mali th**e are diff**ent kinds of markets. Some are for agriculture and basic goods, and some are for trade. The market we w**e at was for trade. As many of you know, at these markets th**e are no set prices so the art of negotiation is necessary. Knowing French would make it eas** but it was easy to talk numb**s. We just had to be able to conv**t Francs ...

... for a night of traditional Malian music at a place recommended to us. Around 10:45 we organised a local taxi van and crammed in, easily surpassing the legal limited on the numb** of passeng**s. Legs w**e used as stools whilst oth**s sat on the floor. I think we managed 19 of us plus the driv** and one of his mates. Despite being reassured that we could all fit in one, the oth** truck opted to organise anoth** taxi. Definitely a good move. Aft** a wee ...

My goodness what a day, crossing borders, drinking, driving... thankfully not in that order! Up again at sparrows - slightly hungover so no running today... tomorrow. Whilst searching for firewood I stumbled across a lizard. Having lost my childhood carefree grab anything attitude I was hesitant to pick it up so called for backup. Rach stepped up to the plate and soon Fred, as it was later called, found a nice home on her shoulder until ...

Salut tout le monde. Ce petit mot c'est juste pour vous rassurer, rien de très grave ne m'est arrivé et la boule sur le plan est désactualisée grave car j'ai quitté Bamako le 10, je suis entrée au Sénégal le 12 et je m'apprete à le quitter inch allah dans quelques heures. Je suis à Zinguinchor, capitale de la Casamance à 30 km de la frontière avec la Guiné Bissau. Je n'ai plus eu l'occasion d'actualiser le blog et le tas de choses ...

... tort que tous les jours il s'y rendait pour travailler. Ce n'était qu'un parmi ses plusieurs clients et du coup j'ai attendu de 10h jusqu'à 14h30, après quoi quelqu'un m'a donné son numéro et je l'ai envoyé un sms. Je n'ai même pas senti le temps passer ce qui peut vous donner une idée de mon désespoir. Este é o proprio dreda. Encontrei-me com ele meio por acaso, estava a procura de alguém que me pudesse aceder ao disco duro do pc que usei para escrever os primeiros posts ...

... and wave as the train passed. Two trains pass those fields twice a week each, and yet these people still seemed fascinated by our passing...or was their fascination something more sinister: "Oi Mavis - there's another one of those trains packed full of people thinking they can make it to Bamako in a day and a half. Why don't they take a plane? It's not much more expensive and think how much more comfortable you'd be..." Still, we kept smiling and waving back ...