A Preview of Mali...

Last night, while wandering aimlessly through television channels only finding one garbage show after another, Michele and I stumbled upon a gem. (Michele gets the credit for this since she had the remote) We found on the Travel Channel, Michael Palin's Sahara: Destination Timbuktu. Because of Michele's talents of perfect-timing, within the first 15 seconds of stopping on this channel (those crucial channel surfing 15 seconds that must captivate you before you click away) we heard that the host, Michael Palin, was in Dakar, Senegal looking for a train to Bamako, Mali. (Michele and I have been pronouncing it 'ba-MA-ko' and he was pronouncing it 'BAM-a-ko' -- who is right? Only once we get there will we know.)

But yeah, anyways, he's going to Bamako! And this wasn't the typical sissy Travel Channel kind of program -- he actually rode on a cramped passenger train the 36 hours from Dakar to Bamako. At some point he threw down the book he was reading and said it was too hot to even concentrate on it. This definitely wasn't some kind of "Mali's Best Hotels" kind of program.

When in Europe I took a train from Paris to Berlin (roughly the same mileage) and it took 1/3 of the time. Obviously bullet trains with air conditioned cars haven't made it to Africa yet. The train made frequent stops at many villages and towns along the way often stopping for a few hours at each locale. The markets located next to the train took advantage of this and turned the entire delay into literal window shopping -- lets see any mall in America give someone this kind of service!

These are a few of Palin's images of Bamako where Michele and I will be staying for the first 3 months of training. In the foreground, people are doing their laundry in the Niger River. In the background, the 'mud skyscaper', one of Bamako's banking buildings and one of the 3 main bridges across the river that splits Bamako in half.
The host Michael Palin stopped at this 'cafe' after the train ride to get a quick cup of coffee (which Michele was quick to point out as 'sketchy'). They threw some hot water, some powder, and a few other liquids into a glass and stirred it up with a spoon.
Bamako isn't all sand and dust (though quite a lot of it can be). Because the Niger River creates a flood plain out of the Sahel around it, many parts near the river can be lush with green and life. The host also said of his 3 months travelling through the Sahara region, his best breakfast was in Bamako.

Because Mali is a mostly Muslim country, call to prayers can be heard 5 times a day. This is something I am looking forward to seeing extraordinarily. From this photo I am most impressed by the variation of all of the colors. In a land where so many things (the buildings, the ground, the water) are the color of dust, the people really do try to stand out. In the harshest of lands you can expect to find the most vibrant of people. Despite all of the hardships Michael Palin encountered while travelling through Bamako and Mali, he experienced so many things than so few Westerners can and so I continue to look forward to my Peace Corps service in Mali.