Greetings from Bamako, Mali!

This note will be quite short, as we have found the
world's slowest internet connection here in Bamako.

We arrived in Ghana on the 20th, spending 3 days in
Accra, a large dirty but lively city where we ran some
errands and then sampled some local fare, the museums
(interesting native artifacts and slave trade history
display), did some shopping (Chris bought a jimbe, a
type of drum), and played the transport waiting game,
which we have come to expect here in West Africa
(buses are notoriously crowded, late, and packed to
the gills, sometimes with goats and other livestock
strapped to the roof). Despite the grueling transport
(generally a 12 hour bus ride between each location,
sometimes overnight), we made it to Mole National Park
to see elephants, crocodiles, and other wildlife for
Christmas, then on through Burkina Faso (stopping
overnight in Ouagadougou and Ouahigouya) to the Dogon
Country in Mali for New Years. This was a quite
memorable place, with mudbrick buildings and cliff
dwellings scattered along an escarpment (a la Mesa
Verde, Colorado, except still occupied) where our
trusty Guide Sulleymane led us from one village to the
next over four days, dining with the locals, watching
native mask dance rituals, and sleeping on rooftops
under clear, starry skies.

We then came to Mopti, the Venice of West Africa (a
bit more rustic than the one in Italy, but there are
boats that look just like venetian gondolas plying the
river there) for two nights before another long bus
ride into Bamako in time for our flight to South
Africa which was supposed to leave this morning. At
the airport, we discovered our flight had been
postponed, enough so as to miss our connection in
Abijan to Johannesburg, so we are trapped here until
Sunday evening. Fortunately Air Afrique (notorious for
canceling about half their flights) is putting us up
in a nice hotel and feeding us there for a couple of
days and we're excited to find a hot shower, pool, and
even a 9 hole golf course at our disposal.

Perhaps our next note (probably from Cape Town) will
have more details from our West African leg of the
journey. In the meantime, Happy New Year to all!

Than Putzig & Chris Tarr