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.