Money

Mali is a cash-only economy. Credit cards and checks are not accepted (except at major hotels & a few businesses). ATMs are scattered through out the city but they only take Visa! As for traveler’s checks, don't bother...

Bills are in denominations of 10,000, 5000, 1000 and 500. Coins are in denominations of 500, 100, 50, 25, 10 and 5. The lone problem is that the ATMs only dispense 10,000 and 5,000, which a majority of people here don't have change to break. We try to exchange these at the supermarket.

The CFA Franc was created on December 26, 1945. Mali left the CFA franc zone in 1962 and established its own currency, the Malian franc (Mfr), at par with CFA franc and its own central bank. However, smuggling and speculation rapidly undermined the new Malian franc forcing it to revert in 1967. It is said that all Francs are minted in Paris.


Although Central African CFA francs and West African CFA francs have the same monetary value against other currencies, West African CFA coins and banknotes are not accepted in countries using Central African CFA francs, and vice versa.

The current exchange rate for $1 USD = 470 CFA Francs. When figuring out the exchange we use the "500-to-1" rule. It is very uncommon for people to use 10 or 5 CFA they just drop the number and round. We have seen only a few 5 or 10 CFA coins since our arrival.

The Anniversary Cake

We got it at the local bakery. The frosting was thick like butter and made up 90% of the cake, but it sure tasted good! (white cake inside)

Candy Bars

“One of these things is not like the others; one of these things just doesn’t belong.” Do you remember those Sesame Street lyrics? We started to count the number of different Kit Kat's they have here, but lost count...

Where there is rain in Africa...there are kids!

When it rains...it brings out the neighborhood. Some children are bathed and some like these just like to get muddy! I know what your thinking, is that a white karate suit? Yep! I bet his mom is proud! What started as a few kids (as you can see), ballooned into several doing tricks for the camera.

Our Roof

What are they doing on our roof? What was a large pile of bamboo has turned into this (left picture)! The other side of the building (right picture) has what we thought was a collapsed roof from a sunporch/deck area; however, we realized this is not true. The bamboo poles are 'wired' to cement blocks. Your guess is as good as ours!

Segou

We decided to get out of Bamako and see another city. Segou is the third largest city in Mali. It is located NE of Bamako and is also on the Niger River. Segou is known for it's relaxed atmosphere. Bamako to Segou is about a 3 hour drive.

First, we stopped at Hotel L'Independence and had lunch. Then we headed to NDOMO. NDOMO is a mud cloth gallery (natural dyes on cotton cloth). We met Boubacar Doumbia, one of Mali's most famous mud cloth artists. He showed us how to make mud cloths and let Erin try her hand at it.

There are 3 types of mud cloths: Basilan, Bogolan, and Gala. Basilan- is a cloth painted with natural dyes (usually medicinal plants) and soap with a range of shades from yellow to light red. Bogolan- is basilan painted with iron, rich clay, or mud and soap. Gala- is a white cloth dyed in a traditional blue dye made out of the leaves of indigo tree and potash.

After the gallery we went for a stroll down by the river and made a quick trip down the arts and crafts area of town. Here we admired the wonderful pottery that is created in Segou (another thing they are famous for). They say you can take a boat trip to another village across the river for even more pottery...next time maybe!

It was a long day and a rainy drive home, but we had a wonderful time and are planning our next trip to Segou!

Afternoon at the Museum

Due to continuous rain over much of Mali the last few days, we have not been flying. So what do you do when it's raining? Go to the museum of course (only one French movie theater).

The National Museum of Mali is located here in Bamako. The architecture of the buildings is gorgeous, but a lack of items was a little disappointing. Many of the artifacts were given as gifts to visitors and personalities from 1964-1975. However, they do have a large collection of masks and textiles. Of course the textiles were my favorite part (Erin). Outside is a courtyard with a concrete path that takes you past a few replicas of a mud mosque and other structures (everything was in French). On the other side of the structures is a water way with tiny fish...not sure what they are but to fast to get a picture! No pictures were allowed inside the museum. A link for the museum is below.



http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://www.museenationaldumali.org.ml/&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=3&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3DMali%2BMuseum%2BNational%26start%3D10%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN