Our first stop was at a fruit and vegetable farm. We walked into a forest of banana trees, at least an acre with hundreds of trees.
This is our guide for the day, recording our visit
Three ways to irrigate your farm... good old watering can, foot pump, and gas water pump. They are pumping the water out of the river and up the hill into the field.
That little guy followed us all around the farm
Papaya
Forronto, the hot pepper that is used in some Malian dishes
Bananas!
Green Oranges... that's how they grow here... when they're ripe and ready to be eaten, they are still green. Shouldn't they be called greens, then?
After our tour, we got to enjoy some fresh fruit. The watermelon was delicious!
Matt receiving all of our gifts, watermelons, papaya, and yes, a chicken.
We ended up eating him for dinner back in Kenieba the next day!
Then we headed down to the rice fields and greeted the workers.
Time to harvest some rice!
Lunchtime! The women brought out these huge buckets of rice and sauce for the workers, and us, to enjoy. Matt and I didn't realize we were going to be eating out in the field!
I took a bunch of portraits while we were waiting. That box was filled with cigarettes and candy that tasted like cough drops. Our guide told us that the owners of the fields bought these goodies for the workers to motivate them.
Lunchtime!
Our best attempt at a group shot
The usual photo banter... kids (and most adults) love to see their portraits on the camera!
Drying corn... reminds me of home!
The kids came to see us before they went back to school after their lunch break.
Tea time! Malians drink tea all the time. Morning, afternoon, and night!
While the tea was being brewed (it takes a while), the principal of the school invited us to come visit.
It is a one room schoolhouse
This is the upper class, on one side of the room
And the lower class on the other side of the room. As you can see, they barely have something to sit on, but at least they are at school and seemingly eager to learn!
Tea is ready!
On our way back to Kenieba, we stopped at a peanut field and my guide greeted the farmers.
That's what peanuts look like when they come out of the ground. You can eat them like that, but they are really moist and don't taste very good. One time my host family gave me a handful of moist peanuts to shell and eat. I had not eaten moist peanuts before, so I rejected them, thinking they were a bad batch!
Peanuts are the staple crop of this region of Mali, so it is the base for most of our meals. A very typical meal here is white rice with "tiga diga na", or peanut butter sauce. You can buy peanut butter in the market for as little as 10 US cents!
