Blogs from District of Bamako, Mali, Africa - page 2

We crossed into Mali at the Senegal border town of Kadira and first up had another three nights of bushcamps. The Boabab trees seem to be everywhere now, they’re such awesome looking trees! We stopped near a whole group of towering Boabab’s for lunch just after crossing through the border. However, a policeman from the border who had asked (and been refused) bribes from us drove up on his motorbike and decided to throw his weight around and tell us we couldn’t stop on this (albeit public) land. On we moved to the other side of a guard post... approximately 1km down the road..... which turned out to be outside of his ‘jurisdiction’ and therefore we could resume lunch without interruption :-). That day we stopped at Keyes, reputed to be the ‘hottest town in Africa’ ... read more

Geo: 12.65, -7.99After a long, sleep-deprived journey to get to West Africa, Bamako hits us like a ton of bricks right in the customs and luggage area. I assume that the scene that played out would be akin to an announcement of the pending end-of-the-world in most places. People running and pushing in all direction, someone in a white lab coat demanding to see our Yellow Fever vaccination but losing interest the minute he sees a yellow piece of paper coming out of my pocket, line-ups forming and dissolving just as quickly, policemen threatening to club some of the people pushing to get in from the reception area…. After a half-hearted attempt to fill out a form that was in French only, the Customs officer didn't even look at it, stamped the passports with enthusiasm, and ... read more

Hallo, Toch maar een blog haha, op het toetsenbord zit geen punt, dus bij deze is dat : Ik ben via Casablanca naar Bamako gevlogen: Ik heb vanaf het vliegveld een trein genomen naar een buitenwijk van Casablanca (het centrum was de bedoeling): Ik vond de stad heel bijzonder, hitte en uitgeputte mensen die nog de laatste etenswaren kopen bij stalletjes langs de weg voor het breken van het vasten (het is Ramadan), uitbundige bloemen in de tuinen bij gekleurde huizen, palmbomen en vooral heel veel leven: Maar nu ben ik in Bamako: De reisgidsen omschrijven het als een typische Afrikaanse stad: En inderdaad als ik er loop of ik de taxi zit, dan herken ik veel dingen die ik op tv heb gezien over Afrikaanse steden: Zie de 2 foto s: Heel veel stalletjes (van ... read more

The bus trip finally ended after some more great hospitality (the guy next to me shared his dinner with me and let me use his cell). The Malian boarder guards want plenty of bribes. We had to pass a hat around the bus to collect for them. It was too late when I arrived to get a hold of Baidou’s uncle Yousouf who’s supposed to look after me, so I spent last night in a hotel. I slept until 12:30 as I was so tired! I then moved to a dorm room where I met an American Anil and a Japanese guy (who’s on a 4+ year bike trip!). Anil and I are the same age and get along well. We are supposed to hike Dogon country together. Today after I failed to get a five ... read more

Bienvenue und herzlich Willkommen, schoen dass du den Weg zu meinem Blog gefunden hast - hoffentlich gefaellt es dir! Hier werde ich die naechsten 7-8 Monate versuchen, mehr oder weniger regelmaessig mitzuteilen, wie es sich hier so lebt. Momentan heisst 'Hier' Bamakok, die Hauptstadt von Mali, wo ich seit vorgestern bin. Morgen oder uebermoren werde ich von Mali in Richtung Guinea aufbrechen, und sobald ich in Conakry mein liberianisches Visum bekommen habe (was hoffentlich, hoffentlich schnell gehen wird), werde ich nach Monrovia aufbrechen und dort fuer zwei Monate beim Centre for Media studies and peace building ( http://www.cemesp-liberia.org/ )mitarbeiten. danach habe ich einen Monat Zeit, Westafrika unsicher zu machen (TOGOOOOO!!), bevor ich Ende September fuer drei Monate in Johannesburg bei Rosaluxemburg ein Praktikum absolvieren werde. Soweit der Plan. Unglaublich, dass es g... read more