almost finished - Bamako

Well, Dan and I have made it back to Bamako safely, and in time to catch our flights back home.

We stayed two nights in a little town of Secou. It was the nicest town we have visited in Mali. It actually looked and acted like a town, instead of just a wild conglomeration of buildings
and road ways.

On the way to Bamako, we thought about what we wanted to eat and realized that all we have had is spaghetti, rice with sauce, or black-eyed peas . When we got to the only restaurant near the Catholic Mission where we stayed, the dish of the day was Ragu. And this place only has - plate of the day- so we had Ragu which is a vegetarian dinner of eggplant, and other assorted and some unknown vegetables.

But it was very tasty and we enjoyed it. Different from rice with sauce!

I had originally planned on staying another 12 days after Dan left so I could see more of the two countries, Mali and Senegal. After 3 weeks, however, I felt I had seen all I wanted of these countries , and travel is so dangerous I decided to change my flight and return early.
Well, that turned out to be kinda of a Chinese fire drill. But it was finally worked out - with a little different twist.
Instead of flying west back toward the US, I flew east to Addis Abba Ethiopia where I have a 28-hour layover.
I arrived here last nite about 8:30 p.m.
Now, that is difficult. First I had to get a VISA , then thru immigration, then change money, then to the taxis, and finally to a hotel that I found on the
internet.

BUT --- thank the Lord, it all worked out. I am now in Addis Abba, and I went to church this morning at a large national church that had an early morning English service. There were 21 people in the service, 4 westerners.

I'll bum around downtown til mid afternoon, then go to the airport for my flight tonite that takes me to Rome, Italy, and then onward to Washington DC, and then Atlanta.

Good traveling.... and definitely fits the theme of this trip - the Destination is the Journey.