Bamako to Mopti
Day 1: December 28th, 2006
We arrived at the airport at 04:00....I expected it to be very quiet, however, it was pandemonium! First of all, we were not given any customs declaration cards on the plane, so everyone was in a rush to fill them out while waiting in line at airport customs. After getting through customs, which was fairly painless after getting the paperwork in order, we had to collect our bags.
The baggage area was packed with locals....not just the people on the flight, but locals hoping to carry your bag for a cash payment. We were able to collect our bags ourselves, but then they had to be x-rayed by security before that would allow us to leave the terminal....and I had misplaced my baggage ticket stub and the security guard did not initially allow me to take my bag. We worked that out and were then able to leave the terminal building.
Outside the terminal, on the way to meet our pre-arranged driver....we were obliged to negotiate more crowds of locals looking for handouts, wanting to carry our bags, offering to exchange currency, etc. I felt a little overwhelmed at that point, but I simply followed my travel companions and we met with our driver in the parking lot. He quickly threw our bags into his Landcruiser and we were soon on our way to our pre-booked hotel...the Kempinski Bamako.
The driver [named Moelai] who picked us up at the airport is the brother of the guide that we had made our arrangements with. Moelai told us that we had to get to Mopti since that is where their guided tours operate from. The drive from Bamako to Mopti is close to 8 hours, so for 50,000 CFA [$100 USD] plus fuel costs, Moelai provided us with a car and driver to get us to Mopti the following day.
Here is Mike [on the right] and Christophe relaxing in the hotel room immediately after we arrived at about 5 AM.
The following morning, after a few hours sleep; our driver picked us up. We had some time to exchange our currency, get some lunch, and look around Bamako before starting the drive to Mopti.
That's me by the hotel sign; the next shot is the view from the hotel room. The Niger River is on the right, the morning traffic rush is already well underway. The hotel Kempinski was extremely expensive at 72,000 CFA per room [$144 USD]. However, we were able to use a credit card which saved having to use our limited cash supply.
Phone service in the home is rare, these small shacks were everywhere for use if you did not have a cell phone. The cell phones are all pre-paid given the cash-only nature of the country.
Lunch at a local restaurant....we waited two hours for the food to show up....they had to go see a fisherman about the fish....no kidding! I was to learn that this is typical, food is prepared fresh....really fresh. That's Derek in the second shot....apparently happy to see his lunch....he had the chicken. It's the slow chicken that gets eaten; consequently, the chickens in Mali are built like road-runners, very lean and somewhat tough. Christophe seems less than impressed. You will also notice that there is mayo with my fries....ketchup seems like a foreign concept in Mali. Also....I only ate the cooked food....fresh greens are rinsed in the local water....so it's good to avoid anything uncooked unless you can peel it.
The following shots were taken as we looked around Bamako prior to leaving for Mopti. That's David standing there in the shot on the right.
While we were on our way to the gas station, we ran out of fuel....the driver is pumping up the fuel primer to squeeze out the last few drops. This got us to the station which was about a block away. Once at the fuel station.....it took 20 minutes or so to get filled up....so we had time to take a few pictures. Fuel in Mali seemed somewhat expensive to me....but then again...I am from Western Canada, the land of cheap fuel. In Mali, a litre of diesel fuel cost 550 CFA [$1.10 USD], gasoline was even more. This probably why we saw large numbers of motor-scooters everywhere.
We are now underway to Mopti....in the next town the road was blocked by a military parade, we had to take an alternate route. The drive to Mopti was rather exciting after the sun went down....sorry, no pictures. The road was packed with traffic; cars, trucks, donkey-carts. We would go through a road-block every 15-20 minutes and at one point, our driver hit a donkey [at slow speed] that refused to move out of the road. If we had not hired a local driver....this drive would have been a complete nightmare [as compared to the relative nightmare that it was anyway].
Once we were safe and sound in Mopti, we checked into a hotel [Il n'y a pas de probleme hotel]. Yes....that was the name of the hotel...it means "There's No Problem". It turned out to be a nice place...and the price was right at around 20,000 CFA [$40 USD] for a double occupancy room. Here are my travel companions relaxing in the rooftop restaurant at about 11 PM. Left to right; Christophe, Derek, Mike, and David. We had a late meal and drank a couple of bottles of wine.
So marks the end of our first full day in Mali.....more adventures to come in the following days.
Day 2: December 29th, 2006
This morning we had a breakfast of toast, coffee, and guava juice. Shortly thereafter we met with our guides to work out the itinerary for our trip, and negotiate a price. There was a common phrase that I heard often...."en Afrique, nous discutons"....in Africa, we discuss. The pictures below are the hotel room, the guides and Christophe planning out the itinerary, and a picture of the local beer....it wasn't a bad beer, and at $2 for a large bottle, the price was right.
Once we had worked out a schedule, the guides left to work out the logistics and come back with a price. They said that they would be back in an hour....but it was actually closer to three hours. No matter.....we had time to see the sights of Mopti. The following are a few pictures taken from the roof of the hotel.
The sights in Mopti near the hotel. There were lots of children that liked to see their picture on the screen of the digital camera.
The Mopti harbour [which is also where the women do the laundry], just down the road. The guy in the last picture looked like he was having a rough time.
When our guides returned, we finalized the itinerary and came to a price of 2700 Euros for the entire trip. That included all travel costs, meals and accommodations, but we were on our own for beverages. Seemed like a good deal for almost two weeks for 5 people. We got our bags packed on the Landcruiser [a new one....the other driver quit] and got underway to the Dogon Country. The third picture is typical of public transportation in Mali; small, cramped, and overloaded.
A few miles down the road....we went through a traffic circle and were pulled over by a cop; he proceeded to argue with our driver about some silly nonsense for 20 minutes. Petty police corruption seemed common, he was looking for a bribe. While we sat there, my brother told me to look out the window....the following is a picture of what I saw...yes....that's a human being lying in a pile of burnt garbage. I thought that he was dead, then I noticed the occasional breath. Other than that.....no movement at all. People walked by like he wasn't there, and the police were far too busy trying to shake down tourists like us for cash than to help this person out.
While we waited for our driver to complete his negotiations with the cop.....this other dude came up to the window to sell us some trinkets. Derek and Christophe each bought a hat. Soon after, our driver having successfully talked his way out of the bribe, we got underway again.
A few more miles down the road we stopped at a market. We had a walk through, it was a very busy place. The kids loved to get their picture taken. Christophe had a large bag of candy to ensure that they all lined up for a photo.
A little later, we saw a group of Dogon dancers that were practicing for the Tabaski Festival.
We finally arrived at our first Dogon village for the night, Kani Kombole. We put our gear away in a granary and sat down to some supper. There are two Christian missionaries in the centre photo, I forgot to write down their names; they had driven up from Burkina Faso and were staying for the night. The third photo is our sleeping accommodations....the rooftop. It was actually a very nice place to sleep, cool, nice breeze...and no bugs at all. The sun sets at about 6 PM...and with no lights, we were in bed by 8:30.
That's the end of day two...the next few days will be spent hiking the Dogon Country.