KORO xxUBefore dusk we had a flat tire in the middle of nowhere. x I felt like joining the moslem man in prayer. xSometime in the wee hours of the morning, the smuggler's truck came to a stop. xI was directed to a mosquito-infested dive that was mistakenly called a motel. xI hardly slept at all due to mosquitoes buzzing around my head and into my mouth.x I was relieved when my alarm went off and the long night in the mosquito nest was over. xIt was not the highlight of my time in Mali.

I was told to be at the parking station at 7:00 A.M. xI don't know why. x I waited nine hours at the parking station for a ride. xFinally, the ride to Mopti came, but the driver went too fast. xI knew we'd wreck. xI even took off my glasses and put them in the camera case so they wouldn't break.

However, to his credit, the maniac bashay driver did something I'd always wanted to do. xHe was going too fast to stop at one of the many police checkpoints. xSo, he just plowed through the rope and went on towards Mopti. xWe never stopped.