by phil | May 14, 2012 | Cote D'Ivoire, Mali, Stories
In Bambara, Sama = Elephant I have spent approximately 110 hours of my life on the road between Bamako and Abidjan. I first took the trip in October of 2010. At that time, the northern half of Cote d’Ivoire was controlled by the Forces Nouvelles and it was the...
by phil | Apr 9, 2012 | Mali
Karate class at Palais de la Culture in Bamako For a bit of background on the political crisis in Mali, please see my last post. UPDATE: Yesterday, the details of the ECOWAS accord were released and they are not promising. Most notably, Sanogo is not going anywhere....
by phil | Mar 25, 2012 | Mali
Niger River sunset By now you know that a group of relatively young, low-ranking soldiers has taken control of Mali’s Presidential Palace and the state TV station ORTM. They also have control of the airport, which they have closed along with the land borders....
by phil | Feb 20, 2012 | Mali, Music
I just returned to Bamako from the Festival sur le Niger in Segou. Most festivals are removed from reality in the best way possible, but this weekend was particularly incredible. I plan on returning every year. This is a clip from Salif Keita’s Saturday night...
by phil | Feb 16, 2012 | Mali, Music
Please read this post if you haven’t already. I’m about to talk about block parties in Bamako, but there is still a refugee crisis in the Sahel. A few weeks ago I spent an evening on the most crowded street corner of the quinzambougou neighborhood in...
by phil | Feb 7, 2012 | Mali
UPDATE 2/10/11: My host family from Timbuktu has made it to Mauritania. They are staying in the border town of Fassala. They are safe. The UNHCR has a camp there and the family reports that they have shelter and (limited) food. People continue to arrive in a steady...
