Back to Africa

For the past week I've been in and around Bamako, Mali. I was there for work, for the 2nd Africa Rice Congress. It was an amazing experience, although at the same time frustrating as I was sick for some of the time and therefore lacked a lot of energy that would have made the trip that much better.

I travelled with Arnaud, my French colleague - I mention his nationality specifically as it was brilliant having a native French speaker to ease the way through everyday interactions. We stayed at the Plaza Hotel (otherwise known as the Royal Hotel by Arnaud and at least one other taxi driver). The hotel had a good restaurant and a very friendly staff of Malians and Lebanese. Despite two leaks in two separate bathrooms - we had a very good time there. The staff were definitely the highlight with Arnaud leaving with a number of friends.

From Monday to Thursday we travelled to the conference centre, and spent the days there either in sessions, trying to corner important people to speak to or trying to maintain some semblance of calm over all our colleagues in the rest of the team. On Friday we travelled to the Office du Niger, a large (almost 1 million hectares) agricultural area for rice and cotton production (with some other minor crops as well). This area also includes "Malibya" a project to develop 100 000 hectares of the land, which has been bought by Libya and will be developed by Chinese engineers and agronomists. On the way there and back we saw lots of Baobabs, and I think I will need to go back to give a couple a hug!

The Chinese presence is very real in Mali - most of the vehicles on the road are Djhakartas - small (what looked like) 50cc motorbikes, all made in China. Even most of the clothes are made in China, despite looking as "African" as the genuine article.

Back in Bamako, I spent the Saturday in the hotel in bed while Arnaud and Anne and Anicent went off to explore the city. Anne works for an NGO in Mali, and that is how Arnaud got in contact with her - we met on the Wednesday, and as Anicent, her partner, works in tourism, they offered to take us around on Saturday. They did on Saturday and Sunday - giving up a whole weekend for us - we felt very spoilt! When they got back on Saturday, Arnaud thankfully convinced me to give up my attempt at being sensible and remaining in bed, and we went out for dinner again with A and A to the "hip" part of town. It was really good, I ate fried plantain and and a separate onion sauce. After another beer we took another taxi home. We took taxis everywhere - they are a bit similar to the cockroaches in Cape Town's townships, although perhaps not AS run-down. Obviously with the window open all the time, although the exhaust fumes from the Djhakartas and heavy trucks and all the dust in the air can be quite stifling.

Once Sunday rolled around I decided to suck it up and head out with the gang, having seen the awesome shirts Arnaud had made up for him at the market yesterday. Anicent and Anne took us to a market where they recycle old metal and make it into new things. Using literally anything not only for the raw material, but for the tools as well. The picture here shows a bellows made from a wheel and a carburettor. The products were mainly tools, although some decorative things like tea trays where being made from melted down aluminium (the silver in the middle of this sand mould.

The market was really big, and climbed up the side of a hill. Afterwards we walked down the hill and through another market where I bought some things. We eventually went for a lunch at a cafe and afterwards to a stall of a friend of Anicent's (although it seems as if he is friends with most of Bamako!). We then went back to the Hotel for some packing and after a middle of the night flight back to Paris and then an early morning train trip to Amsterdam, I was back home!

The last photo is the summary of my Bamako shopping. A big block of soap, 3 cds and plunger - because my shower drain at home was blocked (and is now no longer so!).