Dec Trip to Sikasso - Le mamelon and market

The mamelon is a hill in the center of town and at the bottom of it is the main market in Sikasso. The hill was sacred to the Kenedougou kings and we visited the French colonial tower that stands there now.

Dec Trip to Sikasso - Shea butter soap

We were able to visit a shea butter soap factory during our visit to Sikasso. Watching the process from shea nut to soap was almost as fun as watching the children playing around it - everyone looked out for everyone else so children weren't burned even though their playground had boiling vats of oil. The kids were excited to see us and eager to touch and interact with us.

Dec Trip to Sikasso - Grottes de Missirikoro

Visiting the Grottes de Missirikoro, about 12km southwest of Sikasso was one of the highlights of the whole trip. This natural grotto has been used as a mosque for Muslims and also a place of worship for animists for centuries. At the eastern entrance, animal scarifices take place (look carefully at the pictures) and at the western entrance, deep inside the cave is a mosque still in use. Different local families take care of the caves and we met two older men living in different parts of the cave, during our visit. Around the side of the grotto, there were ladders to climb to the top for a great view of the areas. Fred took the boys on that adventure while I stayed back and admired the beautiful baobob trees.

Dec Trip to Sikasso - waterfall

While my parents were visiting Mali in December, we had an amazing trip to Sikasso and Segou. Sikasso is in the south of Mali and primarily used as a stopping point for those on their way to or from Burkina Faso or Cote d'Ivoire. Because of that, it's not a huge tourist destination which was perfect for us - a chance to see a different side of Mali from the more popular destinations in the north that we would travel to next. I'm going to break our Sikasso visit into a few blog posts, with the first one being our visit to the waterfalls, Chutes de Farako. During the dry season, the waterfall is small which gave the kids a chance to climb down to to the river's edge and skip along the rocks usually covered in water.

Fresh Fruits

We're so lucky to be able to watch the fruit we eat as it grows on the trees in our yard. When we first moved into the house, we were able to pick lemons but were disappointed that the grapefruit and dates we'd seen on previous visits to the house seemed to have been finished. This morning, our first papaya of the season was ready to be picked from the tree (first and second pictures). I then took a tour of the other trees ... the grapefruits (last picture) need just a little more time, as do the bananas. The mangoes (4th picture) seem to be so close to being ripe, but it'll be another month before they're ready to eat. We have a few mango trees, one of which produces "Mangue Americain" which is apparently a very large mango ... I'll post them once we have them.

Weekend Hike

Last weekend we went on a great hike on the edge of the National Park. It reminded Fred and me of our time in Arizona. The smells, the rocky pathways, the brush, it was all very similar to hikes we’d taken in and around Phoenix. But this time he had little Lucy on his shoulders and was followed by 2 active boys eagerly pointing out insects and birds ... how the time flies. It’s definitely a hike we’ll do again soon. We finished the day with lunch and ice cream at the National Park.

3 Months and Getting into a Groove

I’m a pretty patient person ... actually, I’m not. That’s been my greatest challenge with moving here. But I’ve learned first-hand that you really appreciate things when you’ve had to wait for them. Our shipment arrived 3 months to the day it left our house in Arlington and it was a wonderful day! The boys came home from school and Max immediately ran to his bike (just like his Zayde) and was jumping with excitement about getting to go for a bike ride in the neighborhood. Charlie just ran from toy to toy hugging them. It was fun to watch. Lucy was already engrossed in her Dora dollhouse urging the boys to quiet down because her baby was sleeping. Max loves having his own room and decorates and rearranges things quite often. I wonder where he gets that from? Lucy and Charlie love sharing a room and listening to them talk to each other at bedtime when they think we can’t hear is hilarious. During these last 3 months I’ve experienced every emotion and learned a lot about myself. It’s been a bit of a roller coaster but it’s amazing how things just settle down after a few months. The boys love school, or at least Charlie is resigned to the fact that he’ll need to attend school for the next 13+ years of his life so he may as well make the most of it. They have made good friends and enjoy their activities, especially Badminton. Who knew it would be such a popular sport? Lucy is picking up the French very quickly and is a happy girl, talking non-stop. I’ve started French classes - a tutor comes to the house three times a week and works with me while Lucy plays nearby. That’s been great and I’ve started to get out more and explore Bamako with friends. Yesterday I went to the Palais de la Culture where they were having an artist expo of different West African artists, mostly of fabrics and textiles. I bought a nice handmade rug for the family room - my first purchase here without Fred to negotiate for me. I may have overpaid and certainly gave the artist a good laugh with my broken French, but it was fun. Not it’s time to take Lucy for a swim.