I am passing the afternoon in Paradise. Or more specifically in that little enclave of paradise which contains the Hotel Amitie poolside in Bamako. I have just had a club sandwich and an ice cold beer in a frozen glass. Then I went for a blissful swim in what is definitely Bamako’s best pool. When I arrived back to my sun chair a complete stranger had sent me over a plateful of fruit with compliments and his phone number! I am of course a girl from the bush and ill used to such gallantry these days… I am soaking it up like a sponge.
The Hotel Amitie is one of several Libyan owned luxury hotels in Bamako. It is quieter here than normal. The future of these Libyan strong holds in Mali is of course uncertain.
I am not here just to lie by the poolside however- far from it. This morning I criss-crossed Bamako’s central market on a successful hunt for air conditioners and bathroom equipment for the two new rooms which will shortly make Hotel Djenne Djenno into a 14 room hotel.
And tonight I am going with my Belgian friend Ann to a place called Campement Kangaba, a hotel in the bush about 45 min. drive from Bamako, where we are seeing Afel Boucoum and Habib! Both are bright stars on the firmament of Malian music, but Habib is perhaps now, with Salif Keita, the most celebrated living musician in Mali.