I just got back from a great vacation. My mother came to visit me, and we went to Timbuktu, Djenne, Dogon country, Mopti, and Segou. It was amazing, and so interesting to see much more of Mali. Some highlights:
- Donating $20 in Timbuktu to ‘adopt’ a manuscript and help pay for its restoration, cataloguing, and digital archiving.
- Seeing enormous slabs of salt from the mine at Taodoueni (sp?) for sale in Mopti.
- Wandering around the ancient city of Djenne, and seeing it on market day.
- The beauty of Niongono, the first Dogon village we visited, and the charm of its chief, a very nice old man who kindly chatted with us for half an hour or so.
- The crowds of adorable kids we picked up in every Dogon village, who held our hands and practiced their English on us and tried to sell us slingshots.
- Omelette sandwiches that our hotels gave us for lunches on the road – always savory and good, a distinct contrast to the Boxed Lunches of Terror we got when I was a kid in East Africa. Actually every single meal was great.
- Scrambling around in Dogon villages, beginning to feel pretty good about the pace I was sustaining, and then having a 7 year old in jelly shoes or an old lady with 15 gallons of water on her head overtake me.
- Buying a calabash from a women’s group in Mopti for women affected by fistula.
- Spending two days running around Bamako in a series of uncommonly decrepit taxis with my mother, showing her the sights and sounds (and smells) of this city of which I’m so fond.
Enjoy the photos!
- Donating $20 in Timbuktu to ‘adopt’ a manuscript and help pay for its restoration, cataloguing, and digital archiving.
- Seeing enormous slabs of salt from the mine at Taodoueni (sp?) for sale in Mopti.
- Wandering around the ancient city of Djenne, and seeing it on market day.
- The beauty of Niongono, the first Dogon village we visited, and the charm of its chief, a very nice old man who kindly chatted with us for half an hour or so.
- The crowds of adorable kids we picked up in every Dogon village, who held our hands and practiced their English on us and tried to sell us slingshots.
- Omelette sandwiches that our hotels gave us for lunches on the road – always savory and good, a distinct contrast to the Boxed Lunches of Terror we got when I was a kid in East Africa. Actually every single meal was great.
- Scrambling around in Dogon villages, beginning to feel pretty good about the pace I was sustaining, and then having a 7 year old in jelly shoes or an old lady with 15 gallons of water on her head overtake me.
- Buying a calabash from a women’s group in Mopti for women affected by fistula.
- Spending two days running around Bamako in a series of uncommonly decrepit taxis with my mother, showing her the sights and sounds (and smells) of this city of which I’m so fond.
Enjoy the photos!
Doors in Timbuktu
Decorated prows of pinasses in Mopti
Mosque and market in Djenne
Masked Dancer, Tireli, Dogon country
Tellem dwellings, Teli, Dogon country
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