My friend Clara and I recently traveled to Mali to visit our friend Marc. He is a Peace Corps volunteer there in the capital city, Bamako. Here is a picture of Clara and Marc, with his neighbors, sitting outside his house (it is in the background).

Mali is located in western Africa and is one of the poorest nations in the world. However, as of 1992, Mali has had a stable, democratic government. Outside of the few cities, the economy of Mali is mostly agrarian, but, unfortunately, away from the Niger river valley the country is largely desert.

Below is a picture of a typical mud-brick hut. This is the main style of building in villages. We came across this lone hut while hiking from the village Sibi to a nearby rock-arch formation.

Next to that picture is one of the view from the ridge we were walking along. If you have sharp eyes you might be able to pick out the village toward the right side of the picture. Most of the trees in the valley are Mango trees; Sibi is the mango capital of Mali (we ate ourselves sick).