MOPTIx xx It was very dark when the maniac bashay driver finally arrived in Mopti. I never like to arrive in a strange city at night when I have no clue where I'm supposed to go. This time was no exception. Someone directed me down a dark alley to get to the Peace Corps Guest House. I really didn't want to go down a dark alley. I pulled out my trusty Swiss army knife and went. I couldn't find the place. I returned and the guy directed me back the dark alley to the same place where I had been. In a dark entrance, up some long stairs, was the guest house. I was safe.x

When I hooked back up with Amanda and Debbie, we took a ride on a pirogue (boat) along the Niger river, another one of those rivers that you looked at but didn't touch -- unless you wanted river blindness as a souvenir. It was a beautiful, relaxing ride to a village a short distance from Mopti. The little boy who took the three of us worked his buns off.

The pirogue ride was nice and long -- almost too long -- as my stomach began to rumble. I got home just in time. (That doesn't always happen when you travel to some of the places I go.) Later, we walked to the waterfront for a sunset. We had marketed some and barely got to the river in time to take pictures.