Mali

December (Christmas) 2008

 

We applied for the visa in Nouakchott, Mauretania, which is very easy and comparatively cheap. We entered at Nioro, and all the bureaucracy is not directly at the road, but in Nioro. The only safe place to change money is at the pharmacy in the town centre. Mali was the first country where children asked for a cadeau. No, I don’t have anything. Do I look like Father Christmas? Or like the Sugar Plum Fairy?

Public transport happens with small taxis or also small busses. Fees are low, but overland taxis will start when they are full, which means hopelessly cramped or overloaded for European measures. But they drive more or less safely, as far as I remember. Most roads are in good condition, but every little village has a sample of various speed bumpers. Police was never a problem. They were praying or too lazy to lift themselves out of their chair and the shadow.

Travel guide books tell about some dangers and tricks to get money out of tourists. Just be discreet when taking a picture. In the Dogon country people want some money for a photo. Generally, I consider Mali a safe country, just don’t show your precious belongings too openly. There are quite a lot of tourists in Mali, young overlanders and even the guided tour ones.

When you are staying in Bamako, you WILL get malaria. Take great care and if you are staying only a short time, take prophylaxis.

 

Mali is great to travel, with beautiful landscape and good roads. If you love Mali music, go to the festival du desert near Tombouctou in january. I missed it – this year. We Europeans often forget that muslim culture was once very powerful, influential and wide spread. Not to forget more progressive than the European one, at least in the middle ages. So Mali has a great history and you can even visit some cities for looking at the architecture. It’s a big country and so there is various landscape, the Sahel zone and the desert mostly. It can be dangerous to drive in the desert (partly because of the desert, partly because of rebels or terrorists), especially in the border region to Algeria and Mauretania. Get advice from the locals and an experienced guide.

 

I had the impression that the people are very proud of their culture. They like to dress traditionally, when they can afford it, with beautiful cloth patterns and rich embroideries. Everywhere there is a tailor stall. The all-purpose piece of cloth which is word as skirt and called pagne costs about 1500 and 3000 CFA. Women mostly wear their hair in elaborate braids. Kids can be tiring because they are very enthusiastic when they want to sell you something and they seem not to understand the word “No”. Not to mention the phrases “No interest”, “No cadeau” or “Leave me alone!!!”. Especially in touristic areas you will wish yourself back to Mauretania where nobody took interest in you. Don’t give anything to children. They get enough from other tourists. In the Dogon country, you have to pay a small fee (250 CFA) for taking a picture of a person. Ask your guide. The souvenirs are way too expensive, some (most?) woodcarvings are not authentic, but it’s hard to tell if you are not an expert.

Most people are poor, very decent friendly folks. In rural areas there is no use to ask a woman for the way: they only know the way to the next market place and they don’t speak French (don’t think about English)!

Bargaining about the price is very common, especially for souvenirs. Touareg jewellery is offered virtually everywhere, but my opinion is that it is better to buy it either in Tombouctou or in Agadez (Niger). I like the indigo-dyed fabric, it costs slightly more than other.

When you are at a local’s restaurant, there will be some bowls and cans with water so you can wash your hands, because people eat with their hands or a spoon.

 

There doesn’t seem to grow a lot in Mali, at least you’ll get the impression when you eat in a cheap restaurant. People who know couscous from Mali insist it is made from millet (the Maghreb one is made out of wheat). Perhaps they are right…In the Dogon country, the cheaper restaurants serve some stew made with canned vegetables, served with noodles, rice or couscous. If you spend some more money or go to a real local’s restaurant, food is quite good. You are never wrong with brochettes, but it’s a little bit difficult for a vegetarian. They get some special fish from the Niger that is said being worth a try.

Although the Fulbe wander around with big cow herds, it’s difficult to find affordable milk and milk products. Big supermarkets are very scarce (didn’t find any), fresh fruits and vegetables can be bought at the market or at wandering street vendors. They are sold per pile or per piece and have fixed prices. We found water melons, pineapple, bananas (they are very small, but taste good), oranges (green to yellow, better to make juice than to eat), tomatoes (200 to 300 CFA per pile), cucumbers, carrots, green pepper, potatoes and onions. Harald even managed to get cauliflower and green beans. Baguette-like bread costs about 100 to 150 CFA.

If you want a softdrink not being from the Coca Cola company, you can try the local tonic water with lemon or the grapefruit (lemonade). Clean drinking water is sold everywhere in half-liter plastic sacks that cost 50 CFA.

 

Bamako is good for souvenir shopping, an interesting city and cheap on transportation once you found out the actual taxi fees. I liked the national museum, it has a high standard and is very interesting. Harald and I stayed at Le Cactus, a very nice hotel with camping ground run by an old Canadian couple. The woman keeps two small dogs. They offer a famous free sunday brunch, unfortunately we missed it. The hotel is near the Niger but a little bit far from the city centre, so you have to use the green city mini bus. The second time I went to Bamako to meet Jonas there. He and Peter and Micha were staying at the Hotel Djoliba which is also near the Niger, but not so far from the centre. There is a great pool which I appreciated a lot, but the toilet facilities and the shower (same room) are not so great (clean, but the hotel guys use them too).

We stayed one night in Segou, unfortunately I can’t remember in which hotel, perhaps at the Motel Savanne. The city seemed more calm than Djenne and I think it’s worth a visit.

Djenne is overrated in my opinion, people there love tourists and as soon as you are at the river waiting for the ferry, locals want to sell you souvenirs or offer you a guided tour in the city. They don’t mean no harm, but they are so enthusiastic about their business that you can’t shrug them off. They don’t know what “No interest” means. We found out that you can get in or out of the city at noon, when it’s hot and everyone is only interested in his/her siesta. We stayed at Le Campement, but the small camping space was so full that we had to stay outside the hotel walls (we had a guard at night who read aloud in the Koran); so we were victim to all wanna-be-guides and street vendors. The restaurant at the hotel is good, for the sake of some quiet we even had breakfast there; you can buy postcards in the hotel, too. Or souvenirs. Yes, the traditional architecture IS interesting. We didn’t stay long enough to visit the Monday market.

Haven’t been to Tombouctou. So I have to go to Mali a second time, he he he.

I liked Bandiagara where we stayed at the Togona (shower without roof). It has a relaxed atmosphere and the south of the Dogon country is said to be not so aggressive touristic than the north, so get your official guide here. We made the mistake to go to Sanga, which is very touristic. We drove along the Falaise with the 4×4, a very beautiful route, and made a day’s walk guided tour down the Falaise which would have been nice hadn’t been there all this guys and kids wanting money or cadeau or stilo or…

Bushcamping is possible and generally safe. Locals passing by say hello and go on with their business.

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