by phil | Dec 10, 2014 | Mali
What am I doing in Mali? I am managing a hotel, the same hotel that I stayed at randomly in 2010 when I first came here. It’s the hotel where I met Bintou and many good friends. It’s also affiliated with camels. I am also traveling sporadically to Abidjan,...
by phil | Nov 26, 2014 | W. Africa
Can I write another post about the Bamako to Abidjan bus? Let’s find out. I was not looking forward to this trip. I was not worried about Ebola (neither Mali or Cote d’Ivoire have recorded a case, and the localities in Guinea closest to the Ivorian and...
by phil | Jul 22, 2014 | W. Africa
All of these things happened last week: a passenger plane was blown out of the sky, villages were attacked and overrun, police choked a man to death, warning charges exploded on houses before real bombs fell on them, tanks fired on neighborhoods (later, a hospital),...
by phil | Jun 12, 2014 | Cote D'Ivoire
Previously: In 2010, I left hobart street in Washington DC for Accra, Ghana. I arrived one day before the Black Stars were to face off with Uruguay in the quarter finals of the World Cup. You can read about that here. Four years later, I am in Abidjan, and I’m...
by phil | Jun 5, 2014 | Cote D'Ivoire, Mali
I thought these photos could use a home on the internet, so here they are. Pretty typical scene at Djigui Koro, one of the best bars in Bamako. Somebody buys a case of beer and everyone digs in. This is a very efficient way to order. Bintou on the banks of the Niger...
by phil | Apr 19, 2014 | Cote D'Ivoire
Despite living in a restaurant, I do try to eat out every now and again. And sometimes eating out means going to the garbadrome. Garba is the all purpose, fill-you-up, working class meal of Abidjan. The standard portion costs 50-60 cents and consists of attieke...
