MALI Mali is such an exceptionally interesting country to me. I'm spellbound to the history of the country of which I knew nothing about until I arrived. I sort of feel equally ignorant as to when I was traveling through the Balkan region visiting countries in Europe more than a year ago.
There is so much which I don't know. Let me tell you about an amazing woman! Her name is Sarah and she has been hosting me in Bamako until I left Mali. Sarah is "a friend of a friend" as I wrote in last weeks blog. But she is also one of those people who proves that "a stranger is a friend you've never met before". I thoroughly enjoyed her kind company and all the amazing stories she has from having worked more than 20 years in the Danish foreign ministry.
But she went beyond common kindness when I needed her. The day I picked up my passport from the Guinean embassy I could have left for Guinea. But knowing that I would soon be needing visas for both the Ivory Coast and for Ghana I thought it would be a good idea looking into my options of obtaining one or the other in Bamako.
So after having picked up my passport Monday morning, I headed out to the Ghanaian embassy who informed me that if I applied that day Monday then I would have my passport back along with my visa 2 days later: Wednesday. Then I headed out to the embassy of the Ivory Coast who pretty much said the same. None of them would allow me to start the process in Mali and pick up my visa in another country. I called Sarah to hear what she had of thoughts? And Sarah suggested that I would ask one of the embassies for permission on keeping my passport, while they processed the paperwork without it.
That way my passport could go through the process at the other embassy and once I got it back, I could swiftly return to the embassy who had been processing my visa application without my passport , and they could give it to me on the day.
