This travelogue is about a journey through Mali, which I made together with friends from November 17th until December 15th.
DUS - CDG - BMK - Bamako - Ségou - San - Djenné with Senossa - Mopti - Lac Debo - Niafounké - Timbuktu - Gourma-Rharous - Gossi - Hombori - Douenza - Banani - Bankass - Ende - Banani - Sangha - Bandiagara - Mopti - Bamako – BMK – CDG – DUS
Why publish this travelogue after all these years? I digitalized my handwritten travel diary and thought some aspects are also interesting to the public. Moreover this kind of travel nowadays would risk your live [1], so maybe this travelogue is already giving a historic account.
Day 2, Sunday, November 18, 2007 Dimanche à Bamako
We met Mohammed la Casa and hired him.
Dimanche à Bamako [2]. The muezzin calls at the crack of dawn [3]. To be on the safe side, I also put out the mosquito net because there were enough mosquitoes.
We explored the interior of the city, especially in the unpaved side streets there is a touch of village life. The women meet at the washing place to do the laundry, children are carried on their backs in a cloth and they balance loads on their heads. We drink a lot of tea; We met Mohammed, who is renovating his restaurant [4], but lives in the Foyer d'acceuil de la Mission Catholique. I am partly reminded of Colombo in the 1970s. Carrying loads on the heads of women and girls gives them a beautiful gait; young women, old women, small loads, big loads. The men also look interesting in their light, flowing, traditional clothing. We visit a strange market with wood and steel and dried vegetables, maybe even goat feed, but it looks more like spinach. You can see goats on almost every side street. We meet someone again and again, maybe it's a coincidence. With his help we convert a grocery store, at least part of it, into a street café and may watch the people passing by.
Only a few women are veiled. Some men kneel in prayer. Lots of boys, women and girls.
Geneviève finds her ticket in a down jacket. Charles and I had already suspected that she would find it again at some point of our trip.
In the late afternoon we take a nice hike along the Niger, past allotment gardens. With the sand transporters we see how someone is brought ashore in a kind of palanquin. People taking a bath; they probably don't know that this is how to get infected with schistosomiasis. Then we went on the bridge and got a very nice view of the setting sun. But the spectacle didn't get any better with the passing of time, because the pollution takes away too much light instead of enhancing red shades. Then we took a taxi back to our hotel. Nice dinner. Plans for the continuation of the journey are taking shape.
Day 3, Monday, November 19, 2007 Bamako
Beach hike on the Niger. Lothar's nature experiences on the bridges of Bamako.
Breakfast with Mohammed. We see women at the village pond, the washing area, where the laundry is washed on the washboard. Friends of Mohammed came over. People shouted something to each other. Pilgrim sisters continue to come to the convent. And then the tailor with the Singer sewing machine on his shoulder, who strolls over and finally throws a piece of clothing to one of the women at the washing area.
We exchanged money near the cathedral, where we had been in the evening, quite a lot of notes, the largest had 10,000 and even 5,000 can hardly be changed on the street. Planning the rest of the trip, including Timbuktu, desert, Dogon Country.
I see a very small species of birds with red plumage. Also two rats.
The business with the pilgrims and sisters is really a business. Spanish sisters.
In the evening to the bridge (King Fahd) with crazy traffic and air pollution.
Geneviève talks to one of the women who also wants to stay at the hotel and help a girl.
Links and Annotations:
[1] The U.S. Department of State / Bureau of Consular Affairs for instance writes: "Violent crime, such as kidnapping and armed robbery, is common in Mali." And more risks are mentioned. Moreover it advises: "Draft a will and designate appropriate insurance beneficiaries and/or power of attorney." https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/mali-travel-advisory.html
[2] "Dimanche à Bamako (English: Sunday in Bamako) is the fourth album by Malian duo Amadou & Mariam featuring, and produced by, French singer Manu Chao. It was released on the Nonesuch Records label on August 2, 2005." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimanche_%C3%A0_Bamako
[3] The Germean expression is „in aller Herrgottsfrühe“ - in all of God's earliness“ - at the crack of dawn. In all of Allah's earliness is more correct, but sounds wrong.
[4] Mohammed's restaurant (Mohammad à la Casa) is in the petit futé.
Dominique Auzias & Jean-Paul Labourdette: petit futé Mali 2007-2008. Paris 2006. ISBN: 2746915944. p. 136.
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