Tasting Notes

Now you must understand that the heat scrambles my better judgment - and I know that there of those of you out there who will say "Good lord, girl! What were you thinking?" and the short answer is an old and favourite cliché, desperate times call for desperate measures.

As I managed to max out my baggage allowance on the way over, (and that's a great story in itself) I had absolutely no room for ANY comestible goodies so I arrived completely unprepared - no wine, gin or chocolates at hand. So when Kevin slipped up to Bamako in mid-May I requested that he bring back a couple of bottles of white wine, and as many blocks of chocolate that he could fit in the esky, to try and improve my comfort levels here at Syama Resort.

However, Kev is not a great wine lover. In fact, sending him out to source something for me was like asking me to procure an autograph of any famous sportsperson - completely out of the range of his experience!

And the first bottle I tucked into was exceptional to say the least - also, not having the correct tools available, the boys suggested that we just push the cork in, Ali ... As I said, desperate times ... and so I sampled the vin de pays of that esteemed wine-producing nation -


Lebanon's finest

Lebanon! Kevin claims that it was the fact that he can't read French, however it clearly stated, in English, Product of Lebanon at the bottom of the label. To be fair though, it was a pretty big favour to ask of a man who doesn't drink wine at all.

The first glass was tolerable I guess, given that it had been several weeks since sampling anything, but that was the one and only glass I managed to get down - and then Marcus, being a curious man, decided he would give it a go a couple of days later - I've not seen anyone spit something out so quickly! His comment was, "I'm not sure what urine tastes like, but THAT is what I would expect it to taste like - that was dire, and I will drink just about anything!"

Luckily, Mike C arrived a few days later and Kev asked him, since he was coming from France and is a bit of a wine and food buff (yay!), if he could please bring a couple of nice bottles with him to keep me sweet and happy. And Mike did bring a very lovely sancerre and a delicious hermitage - and he told me I can find the sancerre at Charles de Gaulle next time I'm passing through.


Sweet relief

And as I intend to educate myself properly about what France has to offer on my upcoming breaks, the future at Syama Resort is looking decidely less uninspiring. In the meantime, I'll stick with the G&Ts - they have the anti-malarial bonus going as well.

(Sam, Benny - if you boys are still standing, you can't tell Chris, okay?)