Bamako is an amazing place! We are reluctantly leaving for Mopti tomorrow after a week here in Bamako.
We have discovered tonnes of interesting real Malian food, like the Monae (bamara for millet porridge), but you have to get to this lady's house before 8am or it all sells out. we got a huge pot full for 50 cents! and we also discovered these amazing little pancakes called fou fou and yogurt with millet called dengué, sooo good! and we followed these kids to a back alley and discovered where to buy ice cream here from some lady's freezer! ooh and we found peanut butter here finally!
other than that, we checked out a traditional dance group and jembé rehersal from a new friend of ours, drank a lot of african tea with our new friends, did a 30km run to the next town from here over this big mountain that overlooks the city, and found these fetish stalls that sell monkey heads, snake skins, crocodile heads, dried lizards etc that are used for traditional medicines and for good luck.
People here are the nicest we have ever come across! So helpful, open minded, and giving even though they have nothing material. We are falling in love with Africa more and more every day we are here. We are hoping our next destinations will be as good but this seems hard to beat!
Send us some love from back home! we are missing everyone very much!
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Friday, February 5, 2010
mali mali mali!!!!
So we survived our final days in Senegal and made it to Bamako, Mali.
We had an amazing end to our stay in Senegal at the grand mogul du Touba; a giant celebration that happens once a year to celebrate their religion, which is a form of Islam. We went with our friend and guide Masamba and he took us to stay with his huge extended family. We basically just ate non-stop while we were there! every hour there was more food! and the family was awesome; we spent time with the ladies in their outdoor kitchen where there were always several large pots brewing meat, chicken, rice, this yogurty milk stuff that we had over a porridge made of barley, café de touba (the thickest, most hardcore coffee ever with this interesting spice that we couldnt place), tonnes of veggies, onion sauce, bread, sweets, and the list goes on! it was basically the jackpot for understanding senegalese cuisine! and there were always lots of kids around wanting to practice their french and teach us their first language, wolof. we were really getting the wolof down, it tickeled the older ladies pink when we attempted to speak wolof with them!
but now it is a different set of languages here, but still we can get by with french. masamba says that the main tribal language here is the equivalent to german because it sounds more strong and angry! but people are super nice here and way more relaxed and helpful with tourists than in senegal. and food is super cheap! sorry wendy, krystal is back on the street foods here, she cant resist meals that only cost a dollar!!! we went to this awesome market today and are looking forward to a few more days in bamako to discover more interesting foods and see the sites before heading to a small town on the niger river 4 hrs east of here called segou.
We had an amazing end to our stay in Senegal at the grand mogul du Touba; a giant celebration that happens once a year to celebrate their religion, which is a form of Islam. We went with our friend and guide Masamba and he took us to stay with his huge extended family. We basically just ate non-stop while we were there! every hour there was more food! and the family was awesome; we spent time with the ladies in their outdoor kitchen where there were always several large pots brewing meat, chicken, rice, this yogurty milk stuff that we had over a porridge made of barley, café de touba (the thickest, most hardcore coffee ever with this interesting spice that we couldnt place), tonnes of veggies, onion sauce, bread, sweets, and the list goes on! it was basically the jackpot for understanding senegalese cuisine! and there were always lots of kids around wanting to practice their french and teach us their first language, wolof. we were really getting the wolof down, it tickeled the older ladies pink when we attempted to speak wolof with them!
but now it is a different set of languages here, but still we can get by with french. masamba says that the main tribal language here is the equivalent to german because it sounds more strong and angry! but people are super nice here and way more relaxed and helpful with tourists than in senegal. and food is super cheap! sorry wendy, krystal is back on the street foods here, she cant resist meals that only cost a dollar!!! we went to this awesome market today and are looking forward to a few more days in bamako to discover more interesting foods and see the sites before heading to a small town on the niger river 4 hrs east of here called segou.
Monday, February 1, 2010
off to a pilgrimage
it may be a while before we can write again, tomorrow we are off to a huge muslim pilgrimage in touba, senegal with our friend masamba. we are staying with his relatives and getting the whole experience, should be very interesting... We are wondering if we will see any animal sacrifices since we heard that is common at these types of events! after touba we are flying to mali to ride camels in the sahara!
everyone send us your good energy! krystals stomach is worse than ever, man africa is kicking our asses! thank god for immodium!
but that didnt stop us from enjoying a final meal with our senegalese family this afternoon; it was called maffé, peanut sauce, rice, veggies and beef! yes, krystal ate it too and tried to eat around the meat but likely ate some; when in rome... Jara, one of the cooks, also told us how to make the dish so we can try at home one day!
hope everyone is surviving the cold days, we will be wishing for cold when we get to mali where it is in the mid 30s!!
everyone send us your good energy! krystals stomach is worse than ever, man africa is kicking our asses! thank god for immodium!
but that didnt stop us from enjoying a final meal with our senegalese family this afternoon; it was called maffé, peanut sauce, rice, veggies and beef! yes, krystal ate it too and tried to eat around the meat but likely ate some; when in rome... Jara, one of the cooks, also told us how to make the dish so we can try at home one day!
hope everyone is surviving the cold days, we will be wishing for cold when we get to mali where it is in the mid 30s!!
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