Paris

What has Paris got to do with Africa? You might well be thinking that right now. In fact, this whole region is incredibly geared towards France, with French the common language, and many trade and cultural links.
A good example of this, I noticed today when I went to ask about flights home. To go to London is over 650 quid, yet I can fly to Paris for only 235 quid. Guess where I will flying back to?
In fact, I decided today that two and a half months is quite long enough to be wandering around in Africa, and I booked my flight to Paris for Sunday.
So, the days of the Africa Blog are numbered.
It took me 3 hours to change travellers cheques today. Quite impressive, even by African standards. There's not many touts here, which is nice, although I must be weakening, as I was persuaded to buy a wooden monkey.
Yes, a monkey made of wood.
Bamako is like a giant version of the Holloway Road Nags Head flea market, only it's not so upmarket, and not quite as clean...
I'm finding it quite a challenge not to get run over. I find a good solution is to take taxis everywhere. I found a Swedish detective story translated into English in the hotel. It's an enthralling read, some detective named Becker (not Ted Danson) goes behind the Iron Curtain. Maybe it's just Beck (not the singer dude), rather than Becker (not Boris). I can't remember. It's called something like 'The man who went up in a cloud of smoke'. Look out for it. Written in 1968. Set in Budapest and Stockholm. What more do you need...