The land cruiser taxi we got from Basskounou to Lere, on the Malian side of the border was driven by a madman. He was in competition with another 4X4 driver for passengers, and when we stopped to pick someone else we would be overtaken. Therafter, he would try to catch up with the other taxi, driving crazily off road, hitting sandhills, swerving to avoid trees and camels, and all but losing his own passengers. As a result, we went through 3 tyres that day, probably simply exploding as a cause of the sheer speed. It was a great day though, everyone got into the spirit of the chase, and the countryside remained nice and green. We spent the night in Lere, a town exclusively made of mud, where we were invited to sleep in a family’s
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