The evening before I left Gounkoto Exploration for good, I decided to go for an intercultural experiment. Although the majority of people living on site are Malian, we've never really spent much time together outside of work (except the odd socer game). Everybody tends to hide in their room and be bored on their own ;) So, I was gonna call for a small get-together after dinner involving everybody on camp from drivers, geotechs, geologists, family on site, cooks, South African padmakers... It worked! They all showd up and we had a fabulous time having drinks and snacks, chatting, taking lots of photos, dancing some etc. I had to act my Malian rules, which was bit interesting. So, the guys held a speech thanking me for being me and stuff during the past couple months. It seemed like this was actually the first time that an expat geologist did a small party for everybody before leaving and they were obviously quite touched. Before everybody was allowed to leave, I had to give a small return speech. Not exactly my strength, especially so in French... ;) After ten amazing months immersing myself in the mineral resource industry and the Malian culture, I've come to appreciate a lot of things. The African way of living and working does have its appealing side and I am sure I'll miss the beautiful Malian countryside, the friendly people and the relaxed approach to life in general. It was a great time and certainly a pleasant farewell to remember!
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