Bamako is the capital city of Mali and this is where I will be living this fall. The following is an excerpt from a document provided by the School for International Training, which is the program I am participating in:
Mali is a landlocked country located in West Africa. The name Mali comes from the Bambara word for hippopotamus and Bamako, the name of its capital, means “river of crocodiles.” It is the largest country in West Africa and is well known for its rich culture and stunning landscapes. Timbuktu, the Dogon and the Tuareg are all to be found in Mali. It has also produced world-class musicians such as Salif Keita and Ali Farka Toure; who is touted as the ‘Bluesman of Africa.’
If you want to read a little more, check out this document.
I also found this article, written by a Peace Corps volunteer about being gay in Mali, to be pretty interesting.
