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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 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

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

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]

By Toolman
January 13th 2009

West Africa - Jan 2009 Africa » Mali » North-West » Timbuktu

A Brussels street sign

For the last 8 months I have been on a sabbatical from travelling. During this time I have embarked on a number of random pursuits, such as a career and the like. But all good things must come to an end. I can no longer avoid my responsibilities in life and I am responsible for getting my pasty white ass back to Africa. [If you want to get on with the Africa part of this blog, you may want to skip the next few paragraphs] Last time I left you, I was in Uganda, after several months travelling up through Africa [View Full Entry]

By Carravanquelo
January 5th 2009

Holidayin' in Dogon Country Africa » Mali » Dogon Country

Hombori

Well, this is my third day back in Bamako, and though I have felt compelled to write since I’ve been back, it’s been a bit of whirlwind. First things first, though. On December 23rd I took the bus to Sevare, which is a small city next to Mopti and is the main starting point for Dogon country expeditions. The day started out smoothly. My taxi driver arrived on time (6 am). The bus left only 15 minutes late (7:15 am), and it was a new bus company that only admits passengers from planned stops, meaning that we would not be stopping [View Full Entry]

By Roodle
December 29th 2008

NEw plan! Africa » Mali » North-West » Timbuktu

Helloooo again! Wow; two entries in 2 days, im on a roll! Just wanted to let yall know that hayley and i sporadically had a change of plans. We met some americans/ german people our age that had just got back from Timbuktu, and spoke about the trip so highly. We explained to them we were going to go, but then decided not to because of expenses, long travel time (cause its in the northern part of mali... the saharan desert), etc. But they told us that we pretty much have to go, even if its for a short time. They [View Full Entry]

By Roodle
December 28th 2008

in mali Africa » Mali » Dogon Country » Mopti

Helloooo ya ya ya I suck at writing blogs, whatevs. Im just going to apologize now for any grammatical errors cause I dont know how to work these dang french keyboards here in mali1 But I will try my best.Sooo we (meaning hayley and i) to a nice, clean, fairly cheap place in mopti (a bigger town). There are maaany stories but i must be quick. I will tell u my 2 favs thus far. So, we went through Ghana, to reach Bobo; which is in Burkina Faso. A good fried of mine named Shika is a traditional Burkina musicia but [View Full Entry]

By Carravanquelo
December 22nd 2008

Northward Bound Africa » Mali » District of Bamako » Bamako

After what has felt like a short amount of time in Bamako, I’m headed off early tomorrow morning to Mopti (a 10-hour bus ride), where I’ll meet Nora, who has been in Tominion. The next day, Christmas Eve in fact, we’ll head off to Hombori (a 4-hour ride) together to meet our friends, who are visiting from Durham. I know that I have expressed it repeatedly, but I can’t say it enough just how unbelievable it is that it’s the winter holiday season back home. The sense of timelessness here is so thorough that I often have to pause and consider [View Full Entry]

By Carravanquelo
December 13th 2008

Niono to Bamako to San & back to Bamako Africa » Mali

Niono

Wow, it’s been far too long since my last post. As I recall, we were still in Niono when I last wrote. That was two weeks ago, at which point the slow pace of life was starting to drive us to restlessness. We were also embroiled in a bit of a conflict, for Nora’s supervisor/logistics coordinator was staging a coup, refusing to send us a transport back from Niono even though her supervisors had agreed upon this arrangement. By the time the weekend of November 30th had rolled around, we had made up our minds to take a bus back, although [View Full Entry]

By Carravanquelo
November 27th 2008

Thanksgiving in Niono Africa » Mali » Centre » Ségou

Nora with a really cute kid

Well Thanksgiving is already upon us, and I can barely believe it. I would just as soon forget that it is, but Nora keeps reminding me that it’s her favorite holiday (it took me a while, but I got the hint that I can’t let this day go unobserved). Even knowing the month (and keeping track of that has been surprisingly difficult in this backwater that is Niono) is hardly a marker for the passage of time as one day looks remarkably like another. We don’t have big plans for today, and what plans we do have Nora’s made for us. [View Full Entry]

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