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Background: The Sudanese Republic and Senegal became independent of France in 1960 as the Mali Federation. When Senegal withdrew after only a few months, what formerly made up the Sudanese Republic was renamed Mali. Rule by dictatorship was brought to a close in 1991 with a transitional government and in 1992 when Mali's first democratic presidential election was held. After his reelection in 1997, President Alpha KONARE continued to push through political and economic reforms and to fight corruption. In keeping with Mali's two-term constitutional limit, he stepped down in 2002 and was succeeded by Amadou TOURE.

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By Nataschainmali
September 4th 2009

De eerste dagen in Mali Africa » Mali » District of Bamako » Bamako

markt in Bamako

Hallo, Toch maar een blog haha, op het toetsenbord zit geen punt, dus bij deze is dat : Ik ben via Casablanca naar Bamako gevlogen: Ik heb vanaf het vliegveld een trein genomen naar een buitenwijk van Casablanca (het centrum was de bedoeling): Ik vond de stad heel bijzonder, hitte en uitgeputte mensen die nog de laatste etenswaren kopen bij stalletjes langs de weg voor het breken van het vasten (het is Ramadan), uitbundige bloemen in de tuinen bij gekleurde huizen, palmbomen en vooral heel veel leven: Maar nu ben ik in Bamako: De reisgidsen omschrijven het als een typische Afrikaanse [View Full Entry]

By Bjorndahl
July 26th 2009

Bamako Africa » Mali » District of Bamako » Bamako

Dabola
city on the way to Bamako but still in Guinea

Hello from Bamako Wow was it ever pleasent and hellish to get here. No good direct transport through Guinea so I had to hop bush taxis. First one was really easy: Conakry to Mamou. Only real stories from this are the asshole cops who want bribes threaten me with arrest for holding someone elses passport (they said i didnt look like my picture); and there were lots of police check points too. The same day I cought another taxi from Mamou to some village in the middle of nowhere. There I had to compete with the attention of a polite and [View Full Entry]

By eddy15
June 29th 2009

Bamako nights! Africa » Mali » District of Bamako » Bamako

Yousouf N'Daw!

Well Yousouf is quite the quite the partier! His lawyer friend Arnaud took me to a bar where Yousouf met us after picking up Anil and the Nigerian kid, Raymond, we’d met the night before. We proceeded to pound ’em back on Yousouf’s tab (including supper). It was the most I’ve drank since Canada! I was somewhat loaded --- man my tolerance is low! Anil also hooked Anil up with someone in Djenne. We should meet up again on Saturday night in Mopti. Today I’m hungover. I went to a very good museum (Musee Nationale), but got hustled out of 5,000 [View Full Entry]

By eddy15
June 28th 2009

Finally in Bamako Africa » Mali » District of Bamako » Bamako

The bus trip finally ended after some more great hospitality (the guy next to me shared his dinner with me and let me use his cell). The Malian boarder guards want plenty of bribes. We had to pass a hat around the bus to collect for them. It was too late when I arrived to get a hold of Baidou’s uncle Yousouf who’s supposed to look after me, so I spent last night in a hotel. I slept until 12:30 as I was so tired! I then moved to a dorm room where I met an American Anil and a Japanese [View Full Entry]

By chillaaa
June 20th 2009

stuck in bamako Africa » Mali » District of Bamako » Bamako

Kurzes Update: noch immer mali, noch immer bamako. mehrere erfolglose versuche mit meiner visakarte an geld zu kommen, die einzige bank wo das moeglich ist hat freitag mittag zugemacht. heisst also zwei weitere tage bamako. und dann montag mittag so schnell wie moeglich (was hier in mali wohl so ziemlich alles heissen kann) weiter in richtung conakry. gestern abend gabs unglaeubige blicke als ich von meinen liberia-plaenen erzaehlt habe..ich bin gespannt was auf mich zukommt! heut abend ist getting together mit den couchsurfern bei denen ich im moment bin, bei einem super unsympathischen fr [View Full Entry]

By Carravanquelo
April 21st 2009

I love you, Bamako... when I'm not busy hating you Africa » Mali » District of Bamako » Bamako

Popenguine, home of mussel man
... who, btw, ripped me off on a kilo of mussels and had the gall to berate Nora for mentioning it to him later (of course, in my absence)

Two and a half weeks removed from Senegal, I admit feeling rather disinclined to document our vacation there. Not that it was not a great time. The weather was terrific (about 20 degrees cooler than here), the nearly deserted beaches of Popenguine and Toubab Dialaw were fabulous, and even the pushy vendors of Dakar could not detract from its cosmopolitan flair. But something about returning to noisy, dirty, smoggy Bamako felt good, familiar. Of course, I’m ready for another vacation at this point. There have been a couple of noteworthy developments since our return. For one, we have f [View Full Entry]

D'oh! Can't remember the name of this slave island

By Carravanquelo
March 18th 2009

So hot!!! Africa » Mali » District of Bamako » Bamako

Nora chided me the last time she read my blog for always claiming shock at how long it’s been since my last entry. It’s a genuine sentiment, though. Perhaps I’m easy to shock, or perhaps the notion that I have of myself as a regular blogger is woefully misplaced. In any case, wow, it’s been a long time since my last entry! When I look back over the past three weeks, one of the only defining things that comes to mind is the heat. It is ridiculously hot these days! Hundreds during the day, 80 degrees at night. As it gets [View Full Entry]

By cgs
February 9th 2009

18 January 2009, Bus from Bamako, Mali to Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso Africa » Mali » District of Bamako » Bamako

woman selling food on the bus
woman selling food on the bus...this happened at almost every stop

The 11 hours on the bus are not uneventful. The entire bus area comes to life after 6:00 AM. So many people--vendors of every possible description, selling some of everything under the sun. Speaking of sun, there is not much. We finally get going about 8:00 AM. The countryside is a mix of very busy villages along the road and open country. Lots of making of food, and and donkey carts going by with wood and vegetables. Many goats--I think I see a goat being grilled--the whole thing. I doze in and out. About 1:30 we make a stop for 10 [View Full Entry]

By cgs
February 8th 2009

17 January 2009, Arrival in Mali Africa » Mali » District of Bamako » Bamako

Bittar Transport
Bittar Transport in the dark, opens in two more hours, while we wait....

I felt the rains down in Africa, so says the song. Here we are at the airport in Casablanca, awaiting our flight to Bamako and it's raining. It's 10:30 PM. We've been here since 4:05 PM this afternoon. We left Amsterdam at 1:25 PM. Royal Air Maroc was it's own experience--though not a bad one. It was just a bit of cattle call loading--Southwest Airlines was orderly by comparison. No one was listened to the gate agent about loading by rows, and the one bag carry on rule was not close to being enforced. Thomas pushed me (literally) to push my [View Full Entry]

By Carravanquelo
January 22nd 2009

Wintering in Bamako Africa » Mali » District of Bamako » Bamako

I realize that it’s been quite some time since my last entry, and though I have been quite busy in that interim, when I catalog the events of those weeks, only a few things stand out. But, boy, do they stand out. More on that in a bit. Since my last writing, I’ve been up to my ears in research. I’ve received over a thousand pages of questionnaire data from collection here in Mali, which represents not quite half of what I will end up with. I’ve also been collecting online survey data from students back in the U.S., and with [View Full Entry]

Travel Blog » Africa » Mali » District of Bamako » Bamako