Olympe International Bamako

this is one of those rare moments that magically happens when you are traveling. our guide happens to be childhood friends with Vieux Farka Toure who is the son of the late Ali Farka Toure, perhaps the most famous guitar player in all of Africa. he was a guitar hero of mine. and now, well, now Vieux is as well.

Our guide Amadou tried to get hold of Vieux the whole time we were traveling, but he was out of the country ...

... my bags and changed some euros (at rubbish rates...) and found a semi-official taxi and negotiated a rate and got to the mission catholique, it was around midnight...so the nuns had all gone to bed. Luckily, semi-official taxi driver man was very persistent in his hammering on the door, and someone eventually appeared. She was not overly happy at being woken up, but she let me in and gave me a key and pointed me in ...

... sheep, camels and cows. We all went for a walk through the crowds and were all impressed with their friendliness. They wanted us to take photos of them. There are many places where people want you to take photos so they can charge you for the privilege, here they just want to be nice.



The town is also home to our first beer in a couple of weeks. Mauritania is an Islamic country which forbids alcohol in the ...

... home. I have mixed feelings about my adjustment when I get back home. I have so many thoughts right now about how much is enough. This whole trip has really changed my view of Am**ican society. I am v**y appreciative and proud to be Am**ican but now think that maybe we focus too much on "stuff" aft** seeing how oth**s must put all en**gy into basic survival ev**y day. I will nev** forget this trip or the people of Mali. It has changed me forev**.

... ov** having to pay in full we settled on half and drove off only to pull into a s**vo not long aft** and have the oth** half requested from us. Reluctantly we agreed aft** being given the driv**s ID pap**s as a guarantee... good in principle but not when mass produced as I'm sure they w**e. So arriving at the venue, Hotel Boo, we grabbed some drinks... be** or fanta, found some seats and settled in for the next few hours listening to the en**getic thumping ...

... and shrivelled vegetables on board, we drove for an hour or so, passing sometimes a lone camel chewing leaves from a tree or herds crossing the road. Donkeys are still ever present... either rolling in the dirt, lugging a person, cart or both. Pulled off road for lunch. Nice spot. Really starting to heat up now. Think its about 27. Lovely! Kate raised the option of having a free afternoon chilling in the bush or powering through ...

... 14th or 15th century, carving their villages out of the sides of cliffs. I must have drifted off a little at this point because the only thing I vividly remember hearing is, "you will walk for six hours...bring comfortable footwear". Much much more to come...this week will have multiple updates!! Time Elapsed in the Crocodile's Back: One nights sleep - Literally.

... un sms pour qu'on se capte pour prendre un thé ensemble, mais pendant trois jours le message n'a pas abouti. Bon courage mon ami. A historia deste mano so dias mais tarde me fez chorar quando a transcrevia para o meu « diario » de viagem. E um enorme autodidata, cedo largou a escola e como so aqui se aprende essa lingua, teve de aprender sozinho a falar francês sem gramaticas nem aulas em audio. Se isso não é suficiente para vos impressionar então saibam que ele aprendeu ...

... in the field with overwhelming interest and success. We planned to see about 200 women over the 2 days and many more than that turned out. The women were very enthusiastic and interested. We've got great data from 2 pilot studies...Now, I just need the Gates Foundation or some other wonderful funder to come through and fund expansion of our research;-)

... At 10am, we finally pulled into the last stop on the Senegalese side. Everyone on the train had to get off, wander a few hundred metres to the police station and reclaim their cards. It all went smoothly, except for a Burkinabe woman in our carriage who had been hassled for 1,00CFA before her card was given back. On our way back to the train, we made the most of the food services that are provided at every stop on the route (no matter how small). As you ...