Saturday Adventure

September 10, 2005

Another fine day in Mali. Today we ventured off with Marzeldi and Fricke, a wonderful couple from South Africa. They have two beautiful daughters, Elzande ( El – zahn – dee) and Ane (Ann – nye). Elzande is five and a spitfire (if Zachary grows up to be half as tough as her I will be happy), and Ane is three. We did not go to the Escarpment as I had believed we would, but we had quite an adventure nonetheless.

First stop was a random herd of cows we saw grazing. They had big horns and were very wary of our presence. The kids were fascinated, especially by the actions of one of the bulls with one of the cows. Elzande observed that they were playing tag. Then we all climbed back into the car.

Next stop was a tremendous Baobab tree back in the bush. We had to walk through some very angry plants and tamp down the grass with a stick to scare the snakes. The tree was enormous…and hollow. Apparently that happens occasionally with these types of trees. Fricke told us that when locals are hired to clear land, they will always leave the Baobabs. They are amazing trees with bark that looks and feels like concrete. If I hadn’t seen it in its natural environment I would have said it was fake. The locals collect up the nuts and grind it to make tartar. We all climbed around inside for awhile and then ventured off to the next spot.

This spot happened to be an observation point overlooking the actual mine. Fricke is a geologist and he filled us in on some of the details while we gazed upon an enormous hole in the ground and the piles of rock that surround it. About half way down were three of those monster dump trucks, you know the kind that are too big to drive on the road, with wheels that are like ten feet tall? They looked like Matchbox cars with these tiny little guys in green suits standing next to them. There are also these giant drills that work in a grid pattern collecting core samples for the geologists to analyze and decide where to dig. The bottom of the mine is currently above sea level, but they have issues with ground water so they have established pump stations that pump the water out of the pit to the plant for use in the refining process. The rims of the hole are about 1800 feet across, almost half the size of the Grand Canyon! After we left the rim, we drove down into the pit to get the perspective of the place from there. Politics aside, it was a really awe inspiring sight.

From here we traveled to Sadiola Village. It was good to see it again. I have only been there once, on the day that we arrived in Sadiola. I was tired that day and had not much inclination for sightseeing. To see it again from a different perspective was very helpful. It is a bustling little community with a thriving market. You can find just about anything you want there and generally it is cheaper than the market here on the mine. Carrie found Corn Flakes there for about 1/3 of the price they charge here…oh to have transportation. We walked around a bit, but since neither of us knew we were going, we were not dressed appropriately and we had no cash with us. Women here generally cover their legs. They wear these beautiful dresses that are brightly colored and flowy. Regardless of whether they are shopping at the market or carrying a bundle on their head down a dirt road, their dresses are amazing. Since we already stand out like sore thumbs it would be better if we could at least attempt to blend. There was a young boy who walked right up to Zachary, grabbed his arm and started to drag him off. Z-man was quite taken aback. We had been warned that this might happen, now we will be more guarded when we go to the big city.

Anyway, after that we headed home. Ane had had enough and we all needed to get home and tidy up for the Spanish Night tonight at the club. It should be a big deal as everyone is quite excited about it. I have to go get ready.