So I recently got back from a trip to Mali. It was AMAZING! If you are considering going there, you should, trust me, even with all the drama of kidnappings and Al Quaida. It's safe to travel as long as you stay out of Restricted Travel Zones (we checked with our security guy :)). We spent time in Kéniéba, Bamako, and Dogon Country. Unfortunately Timbuktu was off limits, thanks to Al Quaida....seriously why do they have to ruin everything? But Mali truly was one of the coolest trips I've ever taken. I would put it in my top 5 places I've ever travelled too! There were lots of surprises throughout our stay in Mali, some I will post on my blog, others will remain secrets in Mali ;)
Our trip started after we took a car from Kedougou to the Senegal/Mali border. We went through customs, got our passports stamped and walked across the bridge into Mali. From there, we were 30k from the next biggest city and we don't speak Malinke or Bambara so it was a little difficult to figure out how we could get there. Fortunately, a Senegalese friend of Alex (my friend who travelled to Mali with me) gave us a number to her Malian friend who came to the border, picked us up in his car and took us to Kéniéba . There were no cars/buses leaving to the capital, Bamako until the following day; therefore, requiring us to stay the night in Kéniéba. One of the best things about West Africa, is the hospitality. Seriously! We had just met these people and they let us stay with them that night until we could catch the 5:00am bus the next morning to Bamako. We crashed at a woman's house named Djemé. She was amazing! Alex and I hit it off with her from the beginning. She was a 27 year old female police officer, the only one in the entire city of Kéniéba! She wasn't married and didnt have kids, and she drove a motto! She was independent and confident and so welcoming. She was truly a rare gem, seriously career women are hard to find in West Africa, it's just not a huge part of the culture--yet.
So we crashed there for the night, and took the first bus to Bamako. It took about 6 hours to get there, but it seriously was one of the craziest rides I've ever had. The floor of the bus lifted up and all this dirt entered the bus covering Alex and I in a layer of filth. By the time we reached the hotel we looked super tan, but really it was just dirt. We got checked into our hotel, the Sleeping Camel, and went to the toubab-y restaurant for lunch. I ate my first pizza in I don't know how long! Amazing! We spent 4 days in Bamako. It's a nice capital city, fairly calm compared to Dakar. But after living in West Africa for over 2 years, we felt a little bored, I mean it's not all that different from Senegal. We filled our time by wandering around the city, checking out the markets (which were very similar to Senegalese markets) except that Bamako has an area in its major market that contains fetish stalls. What is that you ask? Fetish? Well, it's an area that contains all the voodoo and magical ingredients you need to make potions, cast spells, or make powerful amulets. There are a lot of animists in Mali. The fetish stalls were really cool! You can find animal heads like monkeys, dogs, other bush animals, birds, etc. There was animal skin, dried horse penises, and other random stuff. I paid 500cfa (about $1 to take some photos like these:)
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| Alex hangin out in the fetish stalls |
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| For all your fetish needs |
It was really fun! We also spent time in Bamako eating not-African-food. Bamako is a huge city! You can find lots of different types of food! We splurged one night on thai food! It was amazing! :) But the craziest thing that happened during our time in Bamako was probably when we decided to casually wander into the only swanky hotel (where we were not guests) to see if we could use the pool. (Like I mentioned earlier, we were having trouble findig things to do in Bamako) So we show up at the hotel, make our way to the pool, only to find out that you have to pay 6 mille (like $12) to use it. No thanks! We are on village pay, so instead we just decide, after pleading with the towel employee (who spoke pulaar), to just lay out and sunbathe while looking at the pool while enjoying some cold beers. It was a lovely, relaxing way to spend our afternoon, even if we couldn't go in the water. When we were getting ready to leave we were approached by some business men who were very polite and generous. Two of them were leaving that night for Beirut, but the other one was staying one more night so he invited Alex and I out to dinner. We accepted. It was AMAZING! We went to a lebanese restaurant where we were wined and dined--literally. There was a huge selection of food including falafel, hummus, babaganoush, fetoosh, etc. I already love lebanese food, so this was a delicious treat! :) We have a pic to prove it!
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| Most amazing dinner! |
After dinner, the three of us went downstairs to the nightclub part of the restaurant, where we drank champagne and Belvedere. We got drunk and danced the night away! It was a truly fun night; definetly a highlight of the Bamako portion of the trip.
After our 4 days in the capital, Alex and I took a 10 hour bus ride to Mopti, but we got off in Sevare. That is where we met our tour guide, Hassimi, who took us through a 5 day, 4 night tour through Dogon Country. It was truly an amazing time. Our tour guide was knowledgable and fun! We spent our days hiking on a combination of flat terrain, plateau, and cliffs. We explored Dogon villages, saw mud mosques, catholique villages, and animist villages! We learned a little of the Dogon culture, saw mud huts, and villages camouflaged into the sides of cliffs. It was one of the most amazing trips I've ever taken. Even though a lot of Dogon looks like my home state AZ (must be the desert setting) it was still magical! I really connected to the Dogon area! It inspired me in many ways..... I loved it sooooo much! I would highly, HIGHLY, recommend it! Check out some of our pics:
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| hiking down to the Dogon area |
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| Me and our tour guide Hassimi |
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| Cliff village |
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Alex exploring one of the villages we hiked through
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| Alex and I sittin in a Baobab tree :) |
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| Sunset in Dogon Country |
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| Awesome jumpin pic! |
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| I loved Dogon! |
After our Amazing Dogon tour, Alex and I headed to Djenne. It was a crazy adventure. We had to get off the bus at Djenne junction, where we took a taxi to the river crossing. From there a very large canoe took us to the other side of the river but there were no cars to take us the remaining 6k into Djenne (our taxi guy ripped us off). Fortunately we met a very nice man on the boat who invited us to stay at his house. He said we could sleep on his roof, and he would feed us and let us take a bucket bath all for the price of 2500cfa per person (about $5) so we said yes. He was very nice and his family was very hospitable. We ate fish and rice for dinner, took a hot bucket bath, and slept on the roof. However, we now find ourselves in cold season, and it really does get cold in Africa! Alex and I had to snuggle together all night to stay warm. But the next day, our host gave us a tour (he was a tour guide) of Djenne. We learned about the different architecture (Moroccan, Sudan, and the more traditional Malian mud style). We saw some local artisan stuff including indigo and jewlery making, and of course, we saw the gem of Djenne: the mud mosque. Apparently it's the largest mud mosque in the world! You should check out the show Human Planet, the desert addition one. :) But here is a cool photo of it:
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| The Mud Mosque! It was amazing! |
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| Me and the mud mosque :) |
After our tour, we made our way back to Djenne junction, where we caught a bus to Bamako. It was a long long way back. What made it worse was that we sat right behind the driver so we could see the way he was driving (very dangerous), and we watch how the apprentis (driver assistants) made tea while driving. It was an experience, but fun, despite being terrified for almost the entire ride. We spent a full day in Bamako after arriving where we just rested and relaxed. We went out our last night before catching a 4:00am bus back to Senegal, which probably wasn't the best idea. We drank and danced all night until the bus left. It made for a very unpleasant, 19 hour ride back, hung over, dehydrated, and restless.
Overall, this was an amazing trip! I had such a fun time! Bamako was fun, Dogon was beautiful and inspiring, and Djenne was culturally satisfying! Mali is truly a beautiful country full of surprises and amazing people. Great place to travel too (as long as you stay away from Al Quaida areas). Check out Alex and Sam's Picasa album for more fun pics:
https://picasaweb.google.com/118140034248189202572/Mali?authkey=Gv1sRgCMHPmfDy_beXrwE#
*** If you need a great guide for Dogon, contact me. I'd be more than happy to connect you to our guy Hassimi. He is amazing!
I left my heart in Mali......Until the next posting......
