Two glorious weeks in Mali in 2004, with Janet Goldner escorting us every step of the way.

In spite of some fears about whether we would turn out to be good travelers in areas where we would have to deal with unexpected things on parts of our trip, we ended up having the most interesting trip we ever took. Neither of us understood more than five words of French, but Janet seamlessly translated when needed. Many of her artist friends were fluent in English and had traveled in Europe and the U.S. many times.

We had so many conversations with Janet about the history of Mali (short version), the arts community of Mali (partly from Janet, partly from her artist friends), how people make their livings, and the political system, that we now think we know a smattering anyway about West Africa. Since our trip we tend to read anything that comes along that mentions Mali.

We never stayed in accommodations that were uncomfortable, and meals were wonderful. I’m not sure it could happen on every trip, but quite a few times we landed in a place where Janet had long time friends who took us to their home for a meal, to meet their family, and to have time for a leisurely conversation.

Our driver was very competent and a good sport about changing plans every once in a while. He took his responsibilities as seriously as any airline pilot. Janet had arranged all the transportation well in advance. Each day there was a special event or something to see that we would never forget.

Lowell’s career was with the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Research Service. While we were traveling he had asked Janet a long string of questions about the traditional agricultural practices and how they have adopted modern methods and new crops. She would say, “I’m an artist! Don’t ask me about farming.” So, on the last day of our stay, Janet and her artist friends had our driver go around the outskirts of Bamako to find the National Agricultural Research Center. We walked in with no prior planning and were given a tour of several labs and more than an hour of the National Director’s time. We discovered during this visit that a long time friend of ours was the regional AID representative who visited this facility regularly. The perfect ending for our trip. “It’s a small world” doesn’t begin to sum up how connected we felt with everyone who had put themselves out to make sure we had a comfortable and more than interesting time.

lowellandmarge@verizon.net