Bamako "On the other side of the Caimans"
After 7 years, I finally returned Home. My family has been living in Senegal for almost 12 years, then moved to Ghana for another 3 years to finally decide to move back to our country which is Mali. ( Confusing I know 😃)
My father's side of the family all reside here; but my family never did due to his job.
This country has been one where I definitely feel more like a tourist than a citizen. It allows me to learn more about the hidden gems in the city of Bamako, than any residents here.
Mali in the native dialect Bambara means Hippopotamus, and the capital City Bamako means " On the other side of the caimans".
My dad explained that; since Bamako is situated on one side of the Niger River (which had a lot of caimans), the natives decided to call it Bamako. (Genius I know !!)
Mali was part of the Malian Empire which was one of the strongest and largest empires in West Africa, but it was dissolved in the 1400 for many reasons; slavery, corruption …. (But that’s a topic for another post 😉 )
“The Mali Empire was an empire in West Africa from c. 1235 - 1400. The empire was founded by Sundiata Keita and became renowned for the wealth of its rulers, especially Musa Keita. The Manding languages were spoken in the empire .”
A statue of an Hippopotamus in the middle of a round-about in Bamako.
Fun facts:
Silver per gram cost Approximately 1000 FCFA ( Apprx. $2 per gram)
Gold per gram cost apprx. 7000 FCFA (Approx. $14 per gram)
Places I have visited on this trip:
Koulouba
It is where the president reside (an actual white house).
The view is priceless and splendid. You can see a part of the city of Bamako right in the middle of couple mountains. We weren’t able to take good pictures due to the fog. But just type “Koulouba View” on Google and you can find many pictures.
2. N’ice cream
Huge choices of ice cream; more than 50 choices of ice cream from Obama( double chocolate) to Kinder cereal (My favorite 😍 ).
3. Under the 3rd bridge:
There is a passage that is covered of water when the season of rain starts between the month of July until August/September.
However, when it hasn't started you can see more than you could imagine..
Cows and sheep roaming around
People performing sacrifices to the spirits of the lake
2 rock huts built by Muslims worshipers to be able to worship "close" to the lake
4. Woodin (Clothing Store)
Woodin is a Holland Brand of African clothing and Prints. It has been used for a long time here in Africa because of the quality of their fabrics and how versatile it is. People use the fabric to make clothing, but also ties, shoes,handbags, shoes, earrings, bracelets, etc.
The prints are always unique. If you want or see a shirt of a specific print that you like, Please pick it up as you see it, because you may not see it ever again.
