I LOVE looking at this blog’s statistics now and again…

For example, the counter says that I’ve had 2,814 visitors from the UK, 2,543 from the USA, 201 from Canada, 79 from Mali and 70 from Benin! I wonder who they are and why they visit?

Well, below are some clues as to why people visit this blog. Here are the main search phrases and their percentages:

Which is the only king in a modern standard pack of
cards that doesn’t have a moustache? (14.8 %)
Space hopper (5.5 %)
Rob Baker (5.5 %)
Lois and Rob in Benin (3.7 %)
Kids riding bikes (3.7 %)
Giving Chocolate (3.7 %)

Fascinating! Apparently, the king without a moustache question rates fifth in the world out of about 44,000!!! (And all because of this trivia question!)

The following have also been searched, but less often:

Cotonou market photos (1.8 %)
Climate in Mali (1.8 %)
Wake up tired malaria (1.8 %)
Malian culture 1 1.8 %
Mitsubishi Montero car 2009 (1.8 %)
Co arinate (1.8 %)
Cockroaches (1.8 %)

Thanks to Reggie for sending me those – I hope you all found them interesting!

At the end of an average day in Bamako, THIS is what the Baker family looks like:

And, no, we don’t even walk around bare-footed! The main reason is the dust and dirt everywhere and the fact that it’s cooler and more comfortable to wear sandals. Mind you, we do take our shoes off indoors, so the dust on the floor is bound to have an effect on our feet, even if it is washed regularly.

THANKFULLY, our bathroom is equipped with a bidet which – rather than being used for its designed function – provides a handy foot-wash before bed time!

There never used to be a palm tree on the corner of the riverbank road in Badalabougou. Until last week, that is!

Hmmm…strange! This rare specimen of tree can be easily seen from the New Bridge and has a curiously straight trunk and very uniform branches.

As I was looking at it and taking my photos, a local guy told me it was an ‘Orange’ tree. I didn’t know they grew those in Mali (but I can at least hope for a clearer signal on my phone next time I cross the river, eh?!)

For example, less than an hour ago, I saw THIS:

Wow – a Touareg man riding dromedary camel!!! Now, you may think this is perfectly normal in a country which contains a significant proportion of the Sahara Desert, but here in Bamako you really don’t see them that much. Goats, sheep, donkeys, zebus, chickens – of course! But not camels!

He was happy enough for me to take his photo but – like most men riding camels I’ve come across – he wanted some monetary recompense for the privilege! Other interesting happenings in my neighbourhood include the African Wedding celebration I blogged about last October (read it here).

Thanks for reading!

Remember this post, with the mystery object to be identified?
Well, friends on Facebook thought it might be an icecream maker, a meat-drier, a bird cage, a sand collector…even a 70’s computer!?!

Well, it is, in fact, a swamp cooler (read what wiki has to say about them here). As they’re not common in colder climes, I thought I’d give you a quick tour of the device, so you can see how it works. Have a look:

(Facebookers may need to click here to see video)

There you go! Certainly works well and has brought our lounge down to below 25C…

As you can see, the blog now has new photos at the top as well as a different title. This is to make it more ‘Malian’, rather than purely an extension of the Benin stuff!

So, we now have the following photos:

(1) Our car on the road between Bougouni and Sikasso (Southern Mali)
(2) Sunset over the Niger River in Bamako (5 mins walk from my house).
(3) The Bakers near the reservoir in Selingué.
(4) The amazing village of Songho in Dogon Country (Northern Mali)

In the coming weeks, I also plan to alter the side menus, to include more Malian stuff too! Many thanks to Reggie for his help putting the new header on and also to our mutual friend, Clive Rahn who took the sunset photo (and maybe one or two of the others!)

Hope you like it – any comments?

The second most popular face in Bamako is this one:

A sticker seen on board a SOTRAMA, a window sticker in a taxi, an entire hair-dressing salon painted Obama-style and, on the market, there is no end of Obama shirts, belts and other merchandise!

It is fair to say that, in recent times, the media have associated the predominant religion of Mali with a degree of anti-American sentiment. Well, there’s little evidence of this in Bamako – where there are almost as many stars and stripes to be seen as in Washington!

My friend Clive, on his recent visit, made the most of this and got himself an Obama shirt. I, as you can see, remain faithful to my own country!!!

Don’t forget that I also found Obama goods for sale on St Albans market last year (post here), so it’s not just a Mali thing!

And finally…

I said that Obama’s face is only the SECOND most popular face around the city. So, QUIZ TIME! Whose face is seen even more often than Obama’s?? Folk who live in Bamako are barred from answering – the rest of you, have a guess (tricky one, though). Clue: Revolutionary.

Yesterday, I got one of these for my house:

I’d never seen or heard of such a thing until I came to Mali, but when I heard a colleague was selling hers, I jumped at the chance!

So, QUIZ TIME – what is is called and what does it do? Finally, why did we never have (or need) one in Benin?? Answers please…

Folk who have lived in this part of Africa may not answer (but let’s have some good educated guesses from everyone else!

Twice this month, Mali has made international headlines, but both times for bad reasons. Here are the links:

Wreckage of alleged drug plane found in Mali

Gunmen kidnap French national in Mali

Please continue to remember these issues which, although a long way from Bamako, are nevertheless concerning.

…is by SOTRAMA:

You may remember that Cotonou had lots of zemidjans – motorbike taxis – as well as some three-wheeled tuk-tuks. Well, in Bamako, the SOTRAMA (apparently short for Société de Transports Malienne) combines the speed of a conventional taxi with the ventilation and ‘fun factor’ of a tuk-tuk, but at the price of a zemidjan! Add to it the ’social’ factor – that you can meet strangers, find out their surnames and then mock them for eating beans – then it’s a great way to get around town! I blogged about sotramas on my visit to Bamako in 2008 (click here to read post).

It’s basically a minibus painted green, with the normal seats and the side door removed. Narrow wooden benches are then put all the way round the inside and a chain is put across the open doorway for relative safety! Any make of minibus will do, as long as it’s green, but Toyota and Mercedes seem the most popular. Here’s a photo I took inside one the other day:

You’ll also notice that – like on a bus or underground train – there are handles on the ceiling to hold onto; very necessary at times, unless you want a head injury (or, worse still, to fall out!) Here’s a wee video someone else took of a sotrama ride in Bamako – and they even overtake THREE other sotramas:

(Fancy turning the camera onto his own face at the end – I’d NEVER do a thing like that!!!)

PRICES are very reasonable; I can travel from near my house over the new bridge into town (about 2 miles) for 150cfa, which is around 20p! And, it’s so accessible, you can even take the kids:

Finally, here’s a good site in German all about sotramas, for those of you who speak the lingo (or like looking at pictures!) Thanks for reading – leave us a comment!