On Big City, and Escaping It. Also: Arboriculture & A Snazzy New 'Do

First off, your correspondent must make the obligatory apology for the quality and length of this post, as we are once again faced with an atrocious keyboard situation that requires much diligence to avoid slipping into ;qssive ;isco;prehension> etc...

So again we'll let the pictures do most of the talking. The narrative is, grosso modo, that we arrived A-OK in Bamako, where we were hosted by lovely and generous Diane family (M. and Mme. and baby Fatim aka Tim Tim aka Fatim WADABAAA (lion in Bambara). HOo boy this is ruff typing i am going to start to abridge...we wandered tuff streets of bko, i got a dope haircut (called "the balotelli" [sic]) and then made our way north to historic Djenne, where we are now staying with a buddy Hamma that i met 6yrs ago traveling here, he has since started awesome Hotel Des Amis (just outside town on edge of Bani River) with with fab garden and 2 swell dogs Tarzan and Bob, we helped him plant trees today (the baoba sapling in photo will carry my name) and also walked around Bani. C and I are halfzqy thru trip, tmrw we go to Dogon territor then straight into Burkina so no internet for a while. Salaam and talk to yalls later.