The 2012 Africa Cup of Nations is underway. I’m in Bamako where dusty roadside TVs are being co-opted by crowds eager to see Mali advance. This is Africa’s largest tournament and whether or not you care about the sport, it’s hard not to appreciate the atmosphere.

I have been supporting Ghana since I studied abroad there in 2005. I will be admittedly less vocal about it tomorrow when Mali takes on Ghana in what could be the most exciting match of the tournament thus far. If you are not in Africa and you want to stream the matches (the Ghana v Mali match is tomorrow at 2PM EST, 1900 GMT), check out the site firstrow.tv – just don’t tell anyone I sent you.

For more information about the tournament, the official site is here. I recommend following @garyalsmith for tournament commentary if you are on twitter.

Finally, I also recommend following Juliet Bawuah (@Miss_Bawuah on twitter), who I had the pleasure of meeting when I was in Ghana this past November/December. A broadcast journalist at CITI FM, Juliet sat down with me to talk football in Ghana, Africa and beyond. If you have any interest in football in general, you will appreciate her insight into the sport.

[apologies in advance for the youtube clip. It was the only site that worked for a large upload with Mali’s Orange internet]

Up next: A more substantial post about Festival au Desert and a new post on howtodrawcamels.com following up with Medicine on the Move and Ghana’s female aviators. Look out for these on Monday.