Memories of Mali and Senegal.

Me, a goat, and the Grand Mosque in Djenné, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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ometimes opportunities come up that you just can't turn down. For the globetrotter in me, that opportunity came in the form of work assignment in IMF office in Bamako,Mali. Of course, I can't go to just Bamako so I decided to stay back for a week and travel through the country. I have to admit that I knew nothing about Mali except that Timbuktu is there. So, I started my reading and as I got to learning about the country, I decided that a visit to Mali would not be complete unless I did a trip through Dogon country. But Mali is not on the typical tourist map so finding a guide was a challenge but my persistence paid off!

On the way back to Bamako. San, Sevare and Ségou.

The Grand Mosque in San.

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ur road trip back to Bamako would take us through the towns of Sevare, Ségou and San.  First stop was the town of Sevare for lunch at a Seneglese restaurant.  Tall had called the restaurant earlier that morning to arrange for a meal of ceebu jen (cheh-boo jen) which is a dish of fish and rice. It's Senegal's national dish and if cooked the *right* way, takes several hours to make so you have to call ahead.

Good morning Bandiagara! Goodbye Begnemato!

Early morning view of the Bandiagra Escarpment from the village of Begnemato.

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awoke to the sound of a crowing rooster and chirping birds. The sounds of the country.

Through the mosquito net, I could see the large rocky outcropping of the Bandiagara Escarpment before me. It was barely 6am in the morning and it was a bright sunny day....not a cloud in the blue sky.

Last stop in the Dogon. Begnemato.

The village of Begnemato.

It was about 3pm when we decided to hit the path from Yabatalou to Begnemato. It would be about a 6 km walk to the village of Djinjerou where we would spend just enough time to walk through the market. From there, it would be about a 2 km hike up the escarpment to Begnemato. Basically, we would be ascending from the valley floor to the top of the escarpment.

Market day.

Weekly market in Djinjerou.

We passed through several markets and roadside vendors on our trip to and through Dogon country.  Each was fascinating in its own way and unfortunately, I didn't have much time to spend wandering through them as I would have liked.  But even with just glimpse, I managed to get some sense of what's sold here.

Yabatalou.

The village of Yabatalou.

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espite all the audio torture, I managed to cat nap through the night though by no means did I have a restful night's sleep last night.

Ende.

By early afternoon, we decided to leave Teli and make our way to the village of Ende where we would be spending the night.

As we headed out of the campement, we were accompanied out by a small group of villagers – mainly Tall’s friends. It’s the Malian equivalent of walking you to the front door except here, the front door is the edge of the village and that can be quite a distance away! We eventually got to an intersection of paths that I guess signaled the outer boundary of the village and there, we said goodbye to our Teli hosts.

The village of Teli and the amazng Tellem Cliff Dwellings.

Looking down at the Dogon village of Teli from the Tellem Cave Dwellings.

After we scratched Kani-Kombole off the tour agenda, we headed down the road, in the same direction that some villagers were headed in....on a badly rutted dirt road.

The road to Kani-Kombole. A washout :-(

Leaving Djiguibombo, we wound our away up and down the Bandiagara Escarpment.
It was a dreary, rainy day but the rocky landscape of the escarpment called to me.  Somewhere along our ride, I had Peter pull over so I could really take in the view of the escarpment.   What an amazing, panoramic view!

Into the Bandiagara. Djiguibombo.

I woke up this morning to the sound of thunder and raining hitting the porch outside my room. Not a good for trekking through Malian backcountry :-(

By the time I made it to the restaurant, Tall had already finished up his cup of coffee. While I had my tea, he showered and got ready for the day.

Welcome to Dogon country! Songho.

I saw the sign pointing to Songho before Peter made the turn. We driving towards the base of one of the stone outcroppings. Before I knew it, we had arrived. Tall and I got out and immediately, Tall introduced to one of the village residents, an older man, who would be my local guide for my tour through Songho. Tall left me in his hands – he would catch up with us later. Tall and the man spoke to each other in French and so the man presumed I spoke French as well. He started the tour in French….with my rusty French, I figured out something about a pond and bad water. I was also hoping that Tall would join us soon as I was not going to do well on a French speaking tour :-(

Mopti.

Boats in the harbor of Mopti.

After the guys were done with their breakfast, we hit the road to Mopti which is not only Mali's largest port city but also the launching point to Dogon country which I will spending the next few days trekking through.

Breakfast Malian style. I'll pass.

After we got off the ferry from Djenné, our first destination on our roadtrip was to a roadside stand where Tall and Peter got their breakfast. They're Malian which means they need to eat a full meal at breakfast and would be some form of starch and meat. Today, all Tall wanted was the meat. He called it barbecue.

Djenné.

Me, a goat, and the Grand Mosque in Djenné, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

It was probably 80+ degrees in my room last night and that was with the ceiling fan blowing. The heat made it difficult for me to fall asleep but eventually, the fatigue of the day kicked in and I fell into a deep, restful sleep. I woke up to the sound of the prayer being called out from the mosque. It was barely dawn so I rolled over and fell back asleep until my alarm woke me up at 6:15a.

On the way!

It was cloudy when I woke up in Bamako this morning. I hope it stays like this for the drive so it will be more comfortable temperature wise. Just a few minutes after I finished paying my hotel bill, Tall walked into the hotel and a few minutes later, I found myself in the back seat of a Toyota LandCruiser. Tall introduced the driver to me. "Just call him Peter", said Tall and so I greeted Peter.

A final check of the plans.

View of the Niger River from my hotel room.

My Malian guide, Tall came to meet me at my hotel in Bamako tonight to tell me what our travel plans were going to be for coming 6 days. Though I had read the itinerary over several times, it was difficult to remember all the details mainly cause it's hard to remember the names of all the different places. All I know for now is that tomorrow's destination is Djenné and it would be a full 8 hour day of driving to get there. Tall, who's first name is Joom (spelled as it is pronounced phoentically) will be here bright and early at 7am to pick me up so I will be up, checked out and waiting for him in the lobby by then.

Where the Niger and Bani meet. Mopti.

Mopti ("Mo-tee") is a Malian town located at the confluence of the Niger River and its tributary, the Bani River. The city consists of three islands linked by dykes: the New Town, the Old Town and Medina Coura. Originally, a small fishing village, Mopti has grown over time into Mali's most important port.

Mali. Plan B. The Adventure Begins!

Yesterday, I came to the conclusion that I will not be going to Timbuktu out of concern for my personal safety. So today, I emailed the tour agent (Sinamory Coulibaly with West Africa Travel Tours) with whom I have been working with to plan my week long trip through Mali, to say that I need to completely revamp my itinerary.  A short while later, Sinamory emailed me the following travel plan. My initial reaction was not a positive one as I only recognized the names of a handful of the places.  Where the hell am I going?  Plus, it's a trekking tour - I'll be walking across Dogon country! But, the more I thought about it, the more excited I got cause it's going to really take me "off the beaten path" and I'll really get to see and experience Malian village life. I have to admit that that intrigues me. I still have to work out some details with Sinamory but it looks like this will be Plan B.

The XOF and the IMF. Who knew?

The Communuate Financiere Africaine Franc, otherwise known as the CFA Franc (XOF) is the common currency of 14 African countries which are members of the Franc Zone -

Benin, Burkina, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo whose common central bank is the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO)

Talibah's coming with me!!

girlfriends having cocktails
by  siobhan gately

M

y colleague, Talibah, is coming on the mission to Mali with me. Originally, we were going to be travelling separately. She was going to fly from DC to Mali via Paris and I was headed to Mali via Senegal. She's now decided to go the same route as I am so we'll be travelling together to Mali, stooping over in Senegal.  I'm so excited that she's decided to come with!!