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On the evening of Sunday 26th January my best mate, Mark, drove me from London to the port of Felixstowe, where I was scheduled to begin my 9 month Trans Africa expedition! I entered the P&O Passenger Terminal and eagerly scanned the terminal for a likely looking crowd, sure enough there was a small group with backpacks and sun hats! Our boat was due to set sail for Zeebrugge, Belgium at 11.00pm, so I spent some time getting to know the group. It felt strange to think I would be traveling with this group for 20 weeks overland from England to Kenya! We boarded the ship and after a brief chat everyone decided to bed down. I soon realized the tone of the trip when I discovered that our 'cabin' was actually the floor of the lounge!
1992 Diary - Africa (Part 1)
Gjcmcclurg2005-12-23 14:19:09
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40 degrees almost everyday!
In Bamako we met a friendly guy called Mamoud, who enthusiastically guided us around the town for a few days. After considering our schedule carefully, we decided to invite him to be our guide for a week or so to visit the more interesting north of Mali. We drew up a little contract with Mamoud so that all parties would know what was included in his fee. We were due to leave for Mopti at 11.00am - the bus finally pulled out at 18.00! Transport in Mali is a real challenge to everyone's patients, especially when it is 40 degrees in the shade! After a long night with numerous prayer stops we finally pulled in to Mopti at 6.00am. Mopti, the 'Venice of Mali', is built on three islands at the confluence of the Niger and Bani rivers.
Mamoud immediately led us to the house of his relatives where we would stay. The family lived in a simple adobe house and were warm and friendly to us. Our washing facilities consisted of a kettle of water on the roof! At the evening meal we all sat down together on the floor and ate with our hands out of a communal bowl - I just prayed that my immune system was at 100%! For the night the family gave us a couple of millet mats to bed down on the roof under the stars. The family despite their obvious poverty oozed with generosity and enthusiasm to make our stay pleasant.
First Mamoud took us to see the Bella village built on the banks of the Niger river. The village consisted of small round mud huts that are washed away each year in the rainy season. The semi-nomadic, mostly Tuareg, inhabitants migrate back to the Timbuktu region at this time of year. Next we visited the impressive Grand Mosque. The large structure was built of mud and termite resistant Palm wood. The river seemed to be the center of activity with the trading boats, the dugout canoe ferry operators, and the people washing themselves and their goats.
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See photographs from:
Togo Gallery
,
Morocco Gallery
,
Mali Gallery
,
Ghana Gallery
,
Burkina Faso Gallery
,
Benin Gallery
,
Algeria Gallery
Michal, 2006-05-09 12:35:21