Arriving in Mali- 3 long travel days from Casamance to Bamako

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When I researched for this trip I kept reading that many people considered Mali one of the highlights of West Africa. It is known for it's music, hiking in the Dogon Country, a visit to Timbuktu and trips down the Niger River. However, I had also heard that it was very touristy in main sites of Mali and full of pesky guides. I prefer to travel to a place before it becomes the hot travel destination and changes because of tourism. The main thing being that the people see you a $$$ sign instead as a actual person.

I arrived in Mali on November 17th from Senegal after 2 long days of travel just to get to Mali. My first night was in Kayes, which is supposed to be the hottest city in West Africa with temperatures reaching 115 degrees in the hot season. Luckily, I was there in the "cool season" and it was only about 90 degrees during the day. I still laugh when I see people wearing winter jackets and wool hats when the temperature is about 85 degrees. In Mali I saw a guy on his moped in the heat of the day with a fake fur coat and hat.

Kayes was just a stopover on my way to Bamako, which is the capital of Mali. I had a heck of a time finding a cheaper hotel and felt like I was being ripped off by my taxi driver. After about an hour of walking with my backpack in the heat a Scottish guy on a motorcycle came by and rescued me by talking me to his hotel. I was happy to meet another traveler after traveling 2 long days from Casamance to Kayes. I would say that in my first 2 months of traveling in West Africa I have met the fewest numbers of backpackers of all my trips through Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Latin America. This has forced me to spend alot of time with the locals, which is good in alot of ways. However, it is always nice to meet another traveler to swap information over a beer or take the travel together.

After only about 15 hours in Kayes I was at the bus station at 5:30am for the 6am bus to Bamako. Unfortunately, the helpful guy at the hotel thought the bus left at 6am when it actually left at 8am. So I got to watch everyone wake up who had spent the night on floor outside the station and wait 2 1/2 hours for my departure. However, I was happy to be leaving the bush taxis of Senegal for a proper Greyhound style bus with alot more room than a seat in the crowded bush taxis. I didn't mean they were new buses but better than the bush taxis.

All was going good until we broke down about 3 hours into our scheduled 12 hour trip to Bamako. So I got to spend almost 2 hours having tea with the men from the bus and trying to communicate with them. I actually enjoyed my 2 hours in the shade watching everyone interact. Since Senegal and Mali are very Muslim I had many oppportunities to have many cups of green or black tea with the men in both countries. It is quite a lengthy and ceremonial process to prepare the tea. They pour it out at least 3 times mixing it between 2 cups before pouring it back into the pot for more cooking. I wondered why I thought it tasted so good until I saw how much sugar they added to each pot.

Our bus could not be repaired so they brougt a much smaller bus to transport us the rest of the 11 hour journey. I went from having plenty of room to a woman and her baby pushing up against me as I was at the edge of my seat against the window. Also, this smaller bus traveled at a speed of what seemed to be half of the bigger bus. With this being my third straight day of long trips I was beginning to loss my patience. However, I can only complain so much as I could have taken a break and not had 3 consecutive days of travel.

Instead of arriving around 6pm with it still light out, I arrived half asleep at 11pm in a big city. Not at all the ideal situation, but somehow I ended up at the Catholic Missionary, who had no rooms available that night but let me put up my tent for the night in their enclosed parking lot. So my 3 days of bush taxis and broken down vehicles ended up with me reaching Bamako with ONLY 31 hours of travel.

Sorry for the long story about just getting to Bamako but I had to write about my struggles to bring back some sanity to me. By the way, I actually liked Bamako even though it was a dirty city with loads of traffic. The local people I met were very friendly and helpful. To really enjoy Bamako you are supposed to spend a weekend there and take in some live music. However, I arrived in the middle of the week and didn't have it in me to wait around for the weekend. So I made it to Mali and now ready to explore.

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