There are no buses between Guinea-Bissau and Mali, so I made the journey in several stages. Late in the afternoon of my first travel day, I crossed the border to Ziguinchor, Senegal, a four hour ride. I spent the night in the charming Hotel le Flamboyant. I ate an excellent dinner along the Casamance River as the sun went down. I hope the mosquitoes enjoyed their meal too.
The next day I was up early for another sept-place journey to Tambacounda in eastern Senegal, the jumping off point for the border to Mali. This all-day car ride proved to be the most uncomfortable of the entire trip. We arrived in Tambacounda well after dark, and I slept a few restless hours in a hotel with no electricity before going back to the bus station. Another sept-place brought me to the border. I was thankful that my bus to Bamako would be larger and more comfortable.
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| I walked across the Falémé River from Senegal to Mali. Downstream it becomes the Senegal River and empties into the sea at Saint Louis, where I had been two weeks before. |
A bus from the border brought me to Kayes, the second largest city in Mali, where I waited at the station to get the next bus to Bamako. We pulled out just before sunset.
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| I think this is a statue of a poop emoji. Spotted in Kayes. |
After sleeping through most of the overnight bus ride, I arrived in Bamako at dawn, nearly three days after leaving Bissau. I went straight to the Sleeping Camel, a restaurant and hotel run by expats with a long history in Mali. The manager, Phil, was always helpful in answering my questions about travel and life in Mali. The Toukassou, a wedding dish from northern Mali, is excellent.
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| BCEAO Tower, the tallest building in Mali at twenty stories |
I spent a good deal of time in Bamako, trying to make plans for my remaining time in Africa. I was strongly advised against going north of Ségou and I heeded this advice, though I later heard from a half-dozen parties who made the journey as far as Mopti in subsequent months. No one was going as far as Timbuktu, where fighting was more common.
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| The Peace Monument (Monument de la Paix) commemorates the end of the rebellions in northern Mali in the 1990s. Today the country is once again at war. |
Bamako’s National Museum is among the better museums I have visited in Africa. Set on a large parcel in the city center, it incorporates a large park with nature trails and scale models of famous buildings in Mali. The museum buildings themselves trace Mali’s human history from the prehistoric era through the present.
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| Mannequins in a model bush taxi exhibit at the National Museum. The number of people and bags are not too far from reality. |
I was the only tourist in Bamako at the time, though I heard reports of a few others traveling through the country. Often they stay at the Sleeping Camel, a hotel/hostel/restaurant on the southern side of the Niger River. It’s a common gathering place for the expats in Mali, most of whom work for NGOs, security contractors, embassies. Because of my long stay (prolonged by a Malaria scare detailed below), I had a chance to meet some of these people and get a glimpse of their life as residents of Mali.
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| A sudden thunderstorm at the Sleeping Camel |
I had a brief Malaria scare in Mali. After feeling ill and experiencing a low fever, I decided to go to a nearby clinic. They conducted a battery of tests, some of which were necessary, that concluded I did not have anything as serious as Malaria. A few days later, my symptoms cleared up and I was fine for the rest of the journey.
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| An x-ray of my chest – no Tuberculosis! |
I had plenty of opportunities to explore Bamako, including the market in the old colonial quarter. There is also an interesting French-built cathedral on one of the main avenues.
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| Bamako’s central cathedral, built by the French |
From Bamako, I made a short trip to Segou. I timed my visit to coincide with market day in the town, when many traders from outlying villages would travel by boat and car to buy and sell. I wasn’t disappointed, and was able to purchase both indigo dye and Gum Arabic for artist friends back home.
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| Market day near the main dock in Segou |
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| Boats full of passengers and goods passed back and forth along the Niger River |
I spent the night at an Airbnb run by a French-Tuareg couple. While their English and my French were limited, they proved to be helpful and charming hosts. When I wasn’t shopping in the market, I was writing postcards to friends and family back home.
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| A delicious pizza, a large bottle of beer, and a fantastic view of the Niger. |
The restaurant where I ate lunch proved to be a nice place to watch the chaotic hubbub of the market. Traders carried cases of Coca-Cola to nearby pirogues (motorized canoes) for sale to small villages and towns along the river.
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| A case of soda is loaded onto a pirogue at Segou |
After I returned to Bamako from Segou, I made quick arrangements to travel to Burkina Faso before returning to Bamako one last time to catch my flight. I left on a bus for Bobo-Dioulasso the next day.
