I am currently in Bamako, the capital of Mali, as I write this, my town, Ouelessebougou, not being sufficiently advanced to have access to the internet. Bamako is a vibrant, bustling city of more than a million, but it is very much a local place with sidewalks filled with street vendors. There is no 5 star hotel per se, but of course there are some luxurious accomodations and fancy western restaurants for the occasional foreigner who stumbles into this city. The national museum is pretty impressive, but unfortunately Mali, once the home of three great empires, retains little of its great heritage. Most artifacts have long ago been pillaged and plundered. I visited in Bamako the national zoo, a journey better
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