chez cisse

bamako, mali

if i had to build malaria into my trip itinerary, i can't say that this time slot and its actual arrival would have been any different. i couldn't have planned it better myself. not just because i have a few notable reunions in the coming weeks and not just because i happened to be sedentary in a capital city. mostly, the falciparum rocked my system (and has since thankfully departed) at the same time that i was a guest with the family of an nyc friend, mariam.

at chez cisse, i have been provided with a guest bedroom (with ac!), couches to laze upon, meals to graze upon, and pleasant company, to say the least. so while i had originally intended to high-tail it out of this surprisingly verdant river town a few days back, malaria and an invitation prolonged the punching of any tickets for onward passage.

this invitation was from a family cousin, a geologist, by the name of mega (that's how it's pronounced, anyway) to visit the site of his company's mine in sikasso, to the southeast of bamako. so yesterday, with my fever gone and my stomach in the process of recovery, i was gone from the house for 12 hours, 10 of them spent in the shotgun seat of the car. they were perfect. there're few things i love more than sitting stationary in a vehicle (provided the seat is reasonably comfortable) and watching landscapes change. sikasso, zigged and zagged by various tributaries of the niger river, is the most fertile region of the country and was delicious for the eyes. red dirt road clashed with lush, green vegetation. simple mud huts and sporadic brick homes among rice paddies. people: walking to who-knows-where, bbq'ing, biking charcoal to market, or simply staring at the traffic pass by. while our ultimate destination had its appeal, the ride alone justified the journey.

and so tonight i spend my final night under the cisse roof and with its clan. it has been as enjoyable a week as one could be that included malaria, but the time to move on has come. before that, a dinner at some friends house and then mega has personally assured me that he will find a bar where i can hear some traditional malian music. i have health, now need to hear the kora in the heart of its kingdom.

'whodya think marty, the libyans!' -dr. emmet brown
so you want a little geopolitical nugget? here in bamako, it doesn't take the most astute to realize who has their paws in the cookie jar. with a series of hotels, the complex that will soon house the ministers of state, malibya, and the presence of oilibya, it is obvious that the northern neighbor holds some sway here. what i learned on a little roll around town courtest of my chauffeur, is that the touareg uprising of the previous decade in the north of mali and the present investment are related. the touareg, a nomadic people, suddenly received arms and began attacking the government. with the presence of oil in the north, the source of their armaments was qaddafi who must have promised them some piece of the pie for their insurgency. however, the uprising failed and a widely popular leader became president, whereupon qaddafi decided his new tactic would be to buy up as much of mali as he could. maybe he's seeking leverage, or maybe these buildings are the evidence of the success of the uprising he purchased?