Feasting in Mopti - avril 2009

I went to a place called the Bissap Café, on the waterfront. It has one of the nicest atmospheres I’ve felt at any restaurant in Mali. It has multiple seating areas—a garden terrace, a room where light shines through thick slabs of desert salt, and a rooftop terrace overlooking the street and the river. I opted to sit up there and watch the world go by.

It was very peaceful. I could gaze out across the port, watching the reflections of streetlights ripple on the murky water, serenaded by a chorus of bullfrogs. In between courses, I read my Discover magazine with the top 100 science stories of 2008 that Chev sent me for my birthday. All in all, I spent $20 on myself: a chocolate shake with cointreau, a wood-fired ground beef and ham calzone, fresh fruit sorbet, and a glass of hibiscus (bissap) juice. I figured if I couldn’t get my Bollywood party, I could at least treat myself to a nice dinner. It was fabulous.