Toubab Tales: the Joys and Trials of Expat Life in Africa
By Rob Baker (2020)

I really enjoyed this book. The Baker family lived in Benin and Ivory Coast before moving to Bamako, Mali. Mrs. Baker is there to teach international children at a small mission school. Rob is an ethnomusicologist, studying Mali’s musical traditions. 

Rob tells the story of life in Bamako and his travels to remote places to study music and musical instruments. He attends a music festival in Timbuktu, travels by motorbike to remote villages. In one village his colleague is bit by a very poisonous snake and it is a mad dash to get him to anti venom serum before he dies. Rob has many adventures in the far reaches of the country.

It all culminates with a military coup, street fighting, martial law, and a rather hurried escape.

It is too bad. Now it is not possible to visit Mali due to the political instability and civil unrest. It sounds like a fascinating place.