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DAY 32. WED 07/03. Bamako. 0 kms. Total 7301 kms. Camping Le Cactus.
Decided to spend another day in Bamako at Camping Le Cactus as it was so relaxing. Our longest stay in one place so far on the trip which says something about the camp site. Did not end up braving the street butcher yesterday (and still haven’t) but did end up back at the bar in the evening for a few more beers. Good news is that Inga has since found the pegs that we searched the entire Land Rover for twice! Today was stiflingly hot so we didn’t get up to much, just reading in the shade and a bit more washing. Eventually at about 3.30pm we got around to catching a cab into Bamako for a few errands. Visited the ATM again to stock up with more money for Mali & Niger (same currency), unsuccessful internet – too slow to even try updating our website so just did a bit of emailing. Food shopping also didn’t really happen as we weren’t really in the mood to face all the hussle and bustle of the city while walking around. Really is a bustling city with no room left on the pavements to walk due to all the people, stalls, markets etc so you are left dodging cars, bikes, scooters, taxi’s etc in the road. Eventually by the time we had got a taxi back to the camp site it was almost 8pm after having to direct him the whole way and turned in pretty early.
DAY 33. THURS 08/03. Bamako to Segou. 284 kms. Total 7585 kms. Camping - Hotel Independence. N13 25.801 W6 13.459
After having gotten up really early to start packing (as after 3 days camping almost everything is unpacked) and do some routine Land Rover maintenance, the day took a turn for the worse (for Rob). While packing away something in the roof box I accidentally braced my knee against the front windscreen (something I was always telling myself not to do). As my weight transferred forward I heard a crunching sound and we now have a series of cracks in the front windscreen. Annoying but not much we can do about it know. After having said a few goodbyes we were soon on the way, stopping at various shops/stalls along the way for food and supplies. (even a few beers for the Engel) However on the way out, only a few kilometers from the Segou road we were heading towards, Rob managed to confuse himself with the gps into thinking we were going the wrong way. So a U-turn and back across the bridge to other side of the river through hectic traffic only to discover we were going the right way to begin with. So another U-turn and then try to get back to the route we were on. Thought I would try a slightly different route but ended up at the airport. Then cross country to try find the correct road…. Then the wrong way at 1st, so another u-turn before finally reaching the right road an hour or 2 after having left the camp! Disaster! After that pretty uneventful journey to Segou, a lovely green, colonial town with huge tree lined avenues. We did stop for a brief chat with some Dutch overlanders in a Landcruiser who were also heading to Segou (then down to Ghana) but we never bumped into them again. Luckily we had heard from others (Rob & Ally) about Hotel Independence, where you can camp at the back under lovely green trees and use the magnificent pool and toilets/showers. So we were straight into the pool followed by some Malian junk food for dinner – 2 plastic bags with fried, sweet dough balls (kind of like vetkook, but smaller) and slap chips! Chips were amazing – just like you would get at a fish and chip shop. All deep fried and dripping oil so not very healthy but worth it – very yummy! Hey, no MacDonald’s yet!
DAY 34. FRI 09/03. Segou to Djenne. 340 kms. Total 7925 kms. Camping - Chez Baba. N13 54.373 W4 33.272
Started the day with a last swim in the pool before a bit of internet and then hit the road. After unsuccessful attempt in Bamako we read in the guide book that there was supposed to be a fast internet café at the telephone exchange in Segou (sorry no way point) Boy, we were not disappointed! Fastest internet in Africa so far. We had hoped to visit Djenne on the way today and then overnight further along in Sevare but underestimated the distance so we stayed over in Djenne instead. Only caught the ferry over to Djenne at 5.30 pm (N13 52.846 W4 30.948; 3000 CFA return) so we had time to walk around the famous mosque and also take photos from the roof of the hotel, Chez Baba, where we camped in the courtyard. Had a little local boy, who knew a tiny bit of English, follow us around on our walk, “pretending” to be our guide, in exchange for a pen! The big attraction in Djenne, besides the narrow streets and mud building of the town itself, it the mosque which is the largest mud brick building in the world. Have a look at the photos, very famous, I’m sure you will recognize it! The wood bits sticking out are actually to help with replastering, which being mud plaster I’m sure they would have to do often. Hey, beats putting up a scaffhold everytime?
DAY 35. SAT 10/03. Djenne to Douentza. 315 kms. Total 8240 kms. Camping – Chez Jerome. N15 00.507 W2 56.770
Awoke to a very hazing day, with a strong, cool desert wind blowing the dust off the desert. Very poor visibility with high level dust making it seem like a very bad forest fire nearby. But at least the temperature was cooler than usual – at least 5 to 10 degrees lower! Popped into Mopti on our way past. Very lively and busy market and harbour/port on the River Niger (as opposed to its more sleepy close neighbour, Sevare) As it was around lunch time stopped in at the popular Bar Bozo N14 29.612 W4 12.077 right overlooking the harbour for a snack, beer or 2 and some photographs of the busy river scenes. Also did some great “tourist watching” as it is very popular with tour groups and is thus full of guides, touts offering river cruises and hawkers. Inga did do a bit of bargaining herself and secured a lovely piece of jewelry for 2000 CFA and a T-shirt!
Made it to Douentza, our overnight stop in good time, and found a lovely camp site, Chez Jerome, run by a French guy who speaks very good English. Again one of the nicer camp sites of the trip so far. (Having to start finding our own campsites now as we are running out of gps points and recommendations as our route starts to differ to the usual by heading towards Niger). Clean, quite camp with lovely showers and toilets. Also apparently good bar/restaurant although we were too tired to go check it out and just went to bed after yummy diner of lentils, couscous, sardines and fresh bread! (Although 2nd bottle of whiskey was finished!)
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