There are no celebrations in the streets, certainly. But there is somehow a feeling that a leaf has been turned and that we are starting a new chapter;  the one containing the presidential elections, so important to the return to normality for this poor and bruised nation. And after that, who knows what the chapter after will bring? Maybe a slow return  of tourism – that is certainly what Amadou Diakite is hoping for. Those who have been to Djenne may remember Kita Kourou, a small and charming local restaurant and hotel in the heart of Djenne. It got a favourable mention in all the tourist guide books.
Amadou Diakite has had to accept his private Realpolitik and closed down his operation in the town of Djenne a couple of years ago when the tourists disappeared. He is now running a little roadside café at the Djenne Carrefour (the turning to Djenne from the main artery north/south) There he earns enough to survive by offering tea and simple fare to the Malian travelers waiting for the taxi brousse to Djenne to fill up , or for the Mopti bus to arrive towards Bamako. I  was in the latter category the other day on my way to do some MaliMali business in Bamako.