Bongosso (or Bougounso) is a village and seat (chef-lieu) of the commune of Koromo in the Cercle of Koutiala in the Sikasso Region of southern Mali. The village is 45 km northeast of Koutiala.
The French explorer René Caillié stopped at Bongosso in February 1828 on his journey to Timbuktu. He was travelling with a caravan transporting kola nuts to Djenné. He described the village in his book Travels through Central Africa to Timbuctoo published in 1830. He wrote:
About eleven in the morning we arrived at Bancousso [Bongosso], a large village containing a population of five or six hundred, and situated in a well cultivated plain, shaded by baobabs. This village has a large market, well supplied with the productions of the country; I saw in it a great quantity of cloth and earthen pots which are made here.
I have closed your door
I've marked out the creaks in the floor
I have so much I could say
but I wanna slip away
so I'll wait til youre asleep
you have kept me inside
like a still life caught
in a buzzing beehive
go on now close your eyes
blink and you'll miss me
I've made up my mind
I just wanted to be somewhere else
for a while
I was looking for a little bit more
but now I've been away so long
I don't remember what I'm looking for
there were times I was sure
I'd travelled too far to look behind anymore
and if our chances are bleak
I'm only so brave I'll make my moves while
you sleep
I just wanted to be somewhere else
for a while
I was looking for a little bit more
but now I've been away so long
I don't remember what I'm looking for
because I made my plans for the rest
of my days
I made my plans for every day
and I made my plans for yesterday