5 PLACES VISITED: 13) Guedredou, 14) Kankan, 15) Kouremale GUINEA. 1) Bamako MALI. 1) Ouangolodougou IVORY COAST.
9 OVERNIGHTS (Bush Camps unless otherwise specified): 45km south of Kissidougou (Elev 506m), 20km north of Tokounou, 8km south of Doko GUINEA, Camping/Hostel “The Sleeping Camel” Bamako (Elev 270m, 1 Tent, 1 Dorm Bed, 2 Room Bed), Kobada 35km south of Sikasso (Elev 530m) MALI, the primary school of Namboukaha IVORY COAST.
1 UNIQUE WILDLIFE: 1) Two “Puff Adders" mating (Poisonous, most recorded human deaths in Africa), 2) Centipede (dead).
REFLECTION: This post celebrates “a half century” days on the African continent! Day 50 already out of 273! It seems like more. All of us are more settled in a routine but it IS a routine. Not a leisurely holiday. Work is involved but not “thinking” work - it is all physical and involves plenty of discipline. This is a consideration of overland travel - no one serves you or entertains you - everything relies on team work - everyone doing their bit. If you like camping this is for you but remember, even for you, it is not days but months! The upside is that ur camps are usually close to villages and the locals are always curious. They will visit and watch us pitch our tents and in my case watch me warm up and cool down and laugh profusely - glad I can entertain them...
BLOG TRAILER: This is the blog post that celebrates the arrival of 2016 for me in GUINEA and takes you into MALI by surprise! We were meant to travel from GUINEA into IVORY COAST but the border was closed! Time to enact the back-up plan which is to back-track into GUINEA, head north and enter MALI to its west and travel down south to IVORY COAST. This is why Andi/Grant obtained MALI VISAS when we were in MOROCCO - just in case. The only new bits of GUINEA in this blog were north of Kissidougou (east) which looked the same as the west - lots of dry, hot bush and orange dirt. The town of Kankan was by far the busiest - crazy with people and very crowded, claustrophobic markets. It took us 3 days to get to the MALI border and most of us where excited at the prospect of visiting another country in lieu of SIERRA LEONE which Overland usually visits but we could not do because of pre-known border closure with IVORY COAST.
MALI is a very poor country with 2 out of every 3 living below the poverty line. This is mainly due to drought and the “Tuareg Rebellion” in the north - refer PPS at the end of this blog. Animals are scarce with some hippos along the Niger River. Bamako, the capital is definitely better equipped with supermarkets and conveniences despite the more obvious degraded living conditions of the people in the suburbs. Bamako has many more motor bikes, lots of exhaust pollution and garbage everywhere. Out in the bush you still get the roadside villages with their markets but there are fewer and not so many singing laughing children waiving at the truck.
They still sell 2-stroke fuel in clear glass bottles and black coal for cooking by the side of the road. Mali was well travelled in the past due to the legend of Timbuktu and the stereotypical desert oasis caravan towns on the edge of the Sahara. Not so now. Given the Tuareg rebellion, many kidnappings and recent terrorist attacks, tourism is now scarce ad affected the economy greatly. There are a few ex-pats here due to mining of iron ore and bauxite. Women still wear the colourful “boubous” but the men dress in western clothing and not very well matched. 85% of the population is Muslim and 48% of the population is under the age of 15! Lots of young mothers everywhere you look. I will always remember MALI as the place where we re-discovered our normality - ironic when you consider its poor living conditions. This post ends with our entry into IVORY COAST and first night of bush camp there - the next post will feature the IVORY COAST.T
DAY 50, Fri 1JAN16, 171km, NEW YEAR’S DAY, Bush Camp 5km north of Irie to Bush Camp 45km south of Kissidougou GUINEA. Happy New Year from Guinea Africa! Up at 7am and good to go. “Basilopita” is a Greek cake that is only eaten on New Years Eve or New Years Day in honour of the Greek Orthodox Saint Basil. Inside is hidden a coin only known to the cook which is usually the “lady of the house”. She cuts it for the family and whoever finds the coin has good luck for the rest of the new year. Whilst we did not have Basilopita, I did distribute some Ferrero Roches that I had stashed up from Senegal to celebrate the first day of the new year. This happened after our lunch stop when everyone is lethargic and needs a sugar hit. Today was all back-track for us through Guinea - same landscape and towns as before so nothing new to write about. The road today was a very poor dirt road and we swung from side to side - cannot blog. I passed my day reading my book - just. Had a cool iced tea in Guedredou before our early camp. This was the 13th Bush Camp in a row (2nd without washing).
DAY 51, Sat 2JAN16, 141km, Bush Camp 45km south of Kissidougou to Bush Camp 20km north of Tokounou GUINEA (Run9). I am cursed by an African witch doctor! Today I lost my second good zoom camera that I used for the chimps and intended to use for all animals. More on this later. The morning was a back-track to Kissidougou where Riza did a cook group shop and I was able to get on the internet and buy two replacement car chargers for my MacBook AIr from an ozzie supplier who will express post to my brother - he will then DHL to their office in Accra GHANA in time for my arrival there - problem solved!
The road from Kissidougou to Kankan in the north was new to us and started off very bumpy - time to read again. In the late afternoon Jacob screamed out from the beach (open front section of truck cabin) “snake, snake on left”. Everyone rushed to the side and there they were - two 1.5m thick grey snakes with white blotches mating on the side of the road! We did not know the name of them at the time but Roberto claims he has seen them before and that they are venomous. Riza confirmed this later on when she googled them - they were “Puff Adders” which have caused the most recorded human deaths in Africa. At that point I whipped out my Lumix TZ70 zoom camera to take photos and film and the third disaster of my trip hit me - The camera could not focus on the snakes and then a white screen came up with the message: “System Error (Autfocus)”! Why me? Could not fix it.
I now had no camera that I could use for close-up zooms of animals! You can only imagine my disappointment and frustration. I have never suffered any camera malfunctions in all the travelling I have done - 35yrs over 60 countries. Why now? Why two cameras in 7 weeks? Is Africa that harsh? I had to run-off my distress! We bush camped late but I didn’t care - what more could go wrong - I ran into the African wild knowing I would return close to darkness. I also knew I would solve my problem along the way and I did. Once I got back, Roberto and I hatched a camera recovery plan over a brilliant beef and rice risotto cooked up by Riza’a group. I dreamt of my plan as I slept that night. I also dreamt of my dad - was he trying to help or console me? This was the 14th Bush Camp in a row (3rd without washing).
DAY 52, Sun 3JAN16, 262km, Bush Camp 20km north of Tokounou to Bush Camp 18km south of Doko GUINEA. The minute we pulled out of camp, I started drafting my email to my brother to remedy my camera situation. I asked him to buy two new zoom cameras from my usual shop in Sydney and DHL them along with the two new car chargers for my Mac to the DHL office in Accra GHANA by 20JAN16. The car charges would arrive today and hopefully DigiDirect will have stock of the cameras so that Nick can DHL immediately. Roberto typed up my email on the truck into his phone to send in Kankan since I had to do cook group shopping. He would also CC Yuki since Yuki has a SIM card with Orange Telco internet access in most towns - this way he can answer my brothers questions or receive his status updates without Roberto or I needing to find a WIFI. I would buy another Lumix TZ70 as a backup only and a Canon SX60 as the primary zoom (x60 optical zoom!).
Dan also offered me his backup SLR 300mm zoom camera to use for animals until I picked up my replacement cameras in Accra - Dan the man! I was set with a remediation plan. Hopefully Roberto would get his emails out in Kankan so that Nick can add the new cameras to the DHL of the car chargers. Success! Kankan is a university town and a crazy busy clostraphobic place but I managed to find a student who walked us to phone shop with power and a mobile with hotspot. This student took me by the hand - this is tradition in Guinea - I think I mentioned it - male best friends at any age HOLD HANDS! I was flattered, not embarrassed!
Roberto sent my rescue email and I even managed to answer my own emails and download two statements for my book work. Mission started - the ball was in Nick’s court and hopefully I will have 5 shiny new devices ready for me to pick up in Accra on or after 20JAN16 - yeah right! I am a Golfin. Something more is bound to go wrong! For now I will not worry about it and get back to my blogging and reading - I managed to get from 1 to 75% charge in just 45min. The arvo was a great drive. Got us within 60km of the Mali border at a camp site that was wide and warm! Our cook group cooked up a storm: spaghetti with a thick veggie sauce of eggplant, tomato, onion, garlic, ocra, erbs and spices! The night warm and a little windy. Dan and I slept on the truck because we had to start a fire at 5:30am for brekkie. We blogged, ate pretzels and drank beer until we fell sleep… This was the 15th Bush Camp in a row (4th without washing - equal 4th record!). Photo below: Crossing the Niger into Bamako.
DAY 53, Mon 4JAN16, 183km, Bush Camp 18km south of Doko GUINEA to Camping/Hostel “The Sleeping Camel” in Bamako MALI (Run1). Today was Mali day - our fifth country (sixth if you include Western Sahara). As we were camped only 60km from the border, by 8:30am we were seated at the border post at Kouremale on the GUINEA side. By 9am we were at the border post on the MALI side and off to Bamako around 10am - only 90min total border crossing time - very good - and we even filled out all our NIGERIAN VISA forms while we were waiting. MALI definitely looked poorer than GUINEA. A brief history of MALI and what it is famous for is at the end of this post. The road to Bamako was very good and the landscape changed dramatically - the salt scrub and spaced bush of the border gave way to grassy plains, some green trees and a wide valley of sandstone wall formations on either side with pointy cone shaped tops like in Arizona (see pictures).
By 12:30pm we were driving down the main boulevard of Bamako (Pop 1.5m). It is very spread out surrounded by the same walled ridges we saw over the border. The outer city is a mess but the centre looked OK with lots of hotels. We crossed the Niger River and arrived at our camp site. What a dream - a walled oasis! Equipped with toilets, hot showers, restaurant, bar and even a laundry service. Heaven. We went nuts when we found out that we would be here for 3 nights. I immediately booked a single room with private bathroom and a dorm bed (room of 4) for the other nights because the single rooms were unavailable. Beauty! No tent for the next 3 days. No wasted time. As soon as I found out that there is a big supermarket selling wine, cheese and olives I was off. The city can wait. Running can wait. It was too hot anyway at 2pm. Stocked up on French Rose, blue vein cheese and plenty of olives. I even gathered tins of tuna, peas and carrots for those bush camp nights that we would have only carbs three nights in a row!
Went for a run with Roberto and Riza after shopping which was terrible - lots of fumes and traffic - ran along the main road into town so that we would not get lost. As usual, running revealed the real world of Bamako - poor living conditions, garbage everywhere and people scampering around to make ends meet - a real eye opener, not usually visible to the tourist. The shower was cold but it was still the highlight - clean again after 4 days of no washing! Felt terrific. Roberto, Riza and I assembled in a quiet lounge area of the hostel and we enjoyed pre-dinner drinks, cheese, olives and nuts - it was grand.
We then walked the 10min to a neighbouring Lebanese Restaurant to have a section of grilled meats! I swear that the Lebanese guy that ran the restaurant was the SAME guy I saw running the supermarket we had been to earlier the same day. When I got back tp the hostel they confirmed that there was one lebanese guy that owned this neighbourhood! Roberto, being the typical meat-eating Brazilian scoffed down the meat at this place as if it was his first. Washed down by several 660mL cold local beers. Combine this with some stimulating purpose-of-life conversation and we had a winning evening until midnight.
DAY 54, Tue 5JAN16, 0km, Camping/Hostel “The Sleeping Camel” in Bamako MALI (Rain). Woke at 9:30am. Roberto had a spare spot in his tent since his tent-buddy Dan opted for the flip-out tent. At 10:30am we crammed into a rickety old van and went to the Nigerian embassy to apply for our VISAs. It was a bomb of a building and we got back to camp at 11:30am. The good news was that the Nigerian VISA would be ready late Thursday so that meant an extra night at the hostel - unreal 4 nights of bliss.
Roberto, Riza and I then headed for the city. It is crazy. Tons of activity and chaos. Pollution and garbage abound. We walked across the bridge spanning the Niger and met a Uni student with a good command of English. We asked him about the recent hostage tragedy and he said it had affected the city and country significantly. Several people died when Algerian extremists bombed the Radisson Hotel on 20NOV15, in retaliation of losing soldiers in the north west. Tourism was significantly down. No wonder when people saw us they actually argued with each other on who would show us around and sell us something. It was bad.
We thanked the student for his update and headed down the main drag passing the “Place of Martyrs” commemorating the execution of civilians by the Tuareg Rebels in 1991. We passed the only Catholic Cathedral in town dating back to early 1900s and finally reached “The Grand Marche”, the feature attraction. It is a mess of millions of tiny stalls in the middle of town. We ate the famous “Brochette” or beef-kebabs (souvlaki) together with fried sweet plantains (firm sweet bananas). Then it was off to the “Fetish Market” which sold dried up baby monkey, baby crocodile and hyena heads for “medicinal purposes! For desert there were dried snakes, scorpions, spiders. There were several stalls of the stuff and they are supposed to be good aphrodisiacs, cure back problems but give you indigestion!
The “Grand Mosquee” and “Artisan Market” was next door. A young guy approached us and asked in OK English if we were looking for something. We asked for an internet cafe and when he started taking us up stairs we knew he was trying to sell up stuff - after politely looking at his wares and declining he started the big walk again so we simply stopped, thanked him and popped into a taxi - only problem is he wanted to come along - I managed to convince him not to and off we went.
The second challenge was the taxi driver. We asked to go to the Sofitel so we could use the hotel WIFI. He did not know where it was and we spun around the city aimlessly for 20min so we gave up and showed him the way back to Cafe Broadway, a spiffy looking place 1.5km further down from our camp/hostel which had WIFI. We had our first cappuccino in a long time and happily emailed away - response was good.
Decided not to run today to take advantage of the good connection and downloaded all my remaining statements to complete my book work on the truck. We got back at 6pm and by 7pm we were enjoying wine, olives, nuts and chips in our “private lounge area” before returning to the Lebanese place for dinner. I chose our mains tonight and they were exceptional - a whole BBQ chicken with spices, chips and tomato and a shoulder of beef done the same way. All washed down with local beer. Then a miracle occurred. It started to rain breaking our record of 44 days without it! Thank goodness I was in the dorm tonight - no wet tent for me! When I got back I decided to ring mum and Nick since most people were asleep before retiring myself at 12:30am.
DAY 55, Wed 6JAN16, 0km, Camping/Hostel “The Sleeping Camel” in Bamako MALI (Run2). The dorm was good. Bed was hard but the mozzie net worked and it was quiet. Chris (my ex-tent buddy) and another older tourist were also in the room. It was overcast outside and with the occasional sprinkle. I decided to run immediately just in case the rain got worse. I chose to run in a cunning location - the shoulder next to the main road lanes, bounded by small toblerone shaped concrete barriers where people waited for the rickety care-vans, packed with people. At least here there were no motor bikes or holes or mud - clear bitumen. It was a run that kept me 110% alert, especially at intersections - a mad house of traffic but not as much as Bangkok or Chennai. During my run I noticed many more beggars and lots of what looked like primary school age children selling drinking water in small plastic pouches, something also common in Mauritania and Guinea.
Got back, showered and completed by blog and emails - Nick received the two charges and bought the two new cameras and lined up a visit to DHL at the airport this Sat to send them. Unreal, stage 1 of the recovery plan was in full swing.I then moved from my dorm bed to my own room with huge separate toilet and shower - what luxury and only $53/night for both Roberto and I. We had ample power. Decided to watch a movie this arvo - Skyfall and invited Riza. We put up our feet, sipped wine and ate blue vein / brie cheese, olives, chips and nuts - just like Gold Class! We had so much fun in my room that we decided to have a picnic for dinner. Bought some gourmet hams, cheeses, dips, crisp breads, marinated veggies and even ice cream. Prices were similar to home with the ice cream topping out at a whopping $15AUD for just one litre!!! It was worth it. We started our movie marathon and picnic at 7pm and finished up close to midnight! It was great. Ate, watched and even chatted. We felt human again...
DAY 56, Thu 7JAN16, 0km, Camping/Hostel “The Sleeping Camel” in Bamako MALI (Rain, Run3). Another great sleep. Did not even stir or wake until those iPhone church bells toiled at 9am. Today I delayed my run until 11:30am so I could send a few emails and try to call mum in the morning while oz was still on-line. Success. Spoke to mum and was glad to hear that she solved her dizziness and fatigue problem - it was due to an incorrect dosage of medication for high blood pressure. Now she was driving again. Good news. Mum had heard of Mali. By the time I ran, the sun was out and it was quite muggy. (Photo below: Grande Marche of Bamako).
After the run I decided to make more of my film and got up to the end of Todra Gorge MOROCCO when Riza and Roberto suggested we watch another movie. At around 3:30pm I started “Gorillas in the Mist” starring Sigourney Weaver. I decided to go and stock up on some final supplies and found an even better French Rose. I would leave Bamako with a dozen wines, 36 pieces of long-life cheese, 3 jars of green olives and 3 jars of black olives. Certainly enough get me to the Atlantic coast of Ivory Coast some 5-7 days away. I watched the rest of the film with Roberto and Riza and we enjoyed it very much. The fact that we could watch movies was a real treat and re-connection with some creature comforts. At 7pm we took a break to cut a cake and sing Happy Birthday to Vicky. Tonight was trivia night at the camp/hostel and it was almost full.
There were many solo couples travelling Africa in well-equipped four-wheel drives and some working people from Germany - the Embassy is right next door. Everyone came over to enjoy the food and drink of “The Sleeping Camel” which was quite good. 330mL beers were $1.80AUD and 660ml went for $3.50AUD. Mains were around $8AUD. Not bad for a closed shop. We were planning to go out tonight but Roberto aborted at the last minute so I ate some leftovers and some of the food I had bought for the bush whilst watching “The Last King of Scotland” with Forest Whitaker. Brilliant film about a chance encounter between Idi Amin and a young Scottish doctor. Early to bed tonight since I had plans to wake up at 2am to call my brother and Nick Drinias given how overused the weak the internet is during the day. The bells got me up at 2am so I called mum then realised that the two Nick’s would have been at the funeral of Manual Aroney, the father of one of Nick G’s best men. The mozzies killed me outside so I cut it short and hit the mozzie net for sleep - part 2!
DAY 57, Fri 8JAN16, 404km, Camping/Hostel “The Sleeping Camel” in Bamako to Bush Camp outside village of Kobada 35km south of Sikasso MALI. It was sad saying goodbye to a large bed in a large room with a large bathroom and plenty of power! Not knowing how many bush camps were coming our way, I took one last shower literally 15min before we left at 8:30am. Bamako is so spread out. Took us over 30min to leave the metro area.
We headed south-east towards the Ivory Coast border which was around 400km away - expected to cross tomorrow. The landscape was very flat with spread out and open bush and trees. The road was good and we averaged 60km/h. Our bush camp for the evening was 80km short of the border. We always try to camp near border and cross in the morning just in case there are delays - you do not want to be stuck sleeping at a border - not enough space and too many trucks and people. Tonight Roberto led his cook group and made a Mali dish called “Labadja” which is a spicy mince mixed with long grain rice. Very filling. A spectacular sunset and an early night tonight at 8:30pm - I can’t believe I was going to bed earlier than my nieces Antonia and even Orlanda!
DAY 58, Sat 9JAN16, 200km, Bush Camp outside village of Kobada 35km south of Sikasso MALI to Bush Camp in the primary school of Namboukaha IVORY COAST (Run1). Arrived at the MALI border post around 10am. It was a busy place with a huge compound on the side of the road for truck inspections. We got out after 30min and set another 90min on the IVORY COAST side: 2hrs in all - another record time!
Our first impressions of IVORY COAST were similar to those of MALI. Lots of grass huts, fuel by the roadside, less people waiving. It felt much hotter and the bush thickened around us. We had lunch in an outdoor oven - hot and dry. Same on the truck - I felt like a baguette in a hot oven! The baguette here was not crunchy and quote saggy. The best was Guinea - very similar to Paris! We had a short break in Ouangolodougou and camped out in a newly built Shell station (fuel was $1.50AUD/L) which sold beer, wine and spirits - even cask wine!
(Photo above: a butcher in IVORY COAST - even ate raw liver as he cut it…). Was also able to recharge and it was air conditioned. A very welcome break. I also tried the classic dish of fried sweet plantains served with mashed green pepper hot chilli sauce - terrific - the IVORY COAST version of dark chocolate with red chilli! Our afternoon drive was the hottest, dustiest one to date. Nothing but miles of powdery red dirt road with huge trucks passing by every 2min. I had to run in this! Once we found camp and I was stretching I noticed a dead centipede - it was massive. I placed it on one of the truck wheels so I could photograph iit after my run. Off I went for my run in the red dirt with no mask. What a mistake. The huge trucks kept passing and it was like running in a red fog. I cannot imagine how much dirt I ate. The dirt was so powdery I thought “this is what it must be like to run on the moon”!
As I was running one of the passing trucks honked more than usual so I looked up at it. My first thought was: “boy that truck looks like our truck”! Guess what - it WAS our truck. What the??? I could just hear people screaming my name through the music and I stopped and our truck stopped and the ladder came down. Lucky for me it was at the 9.5km mark of my run so I just got it in - close enough to register for my 62nd country run being IVORY COAST. As I climbed on board everyone laughed. My hair was red. Luckily my running outfit was red so it looked the same! Everyone explained that the state police that we passed before making camp had asked us to move our camp into the grounds of the primary school of the village of Namboukaha, just down the road - they said it would be safe since there have been hold-ups late at night along this road and they were there to shut down the road at 8pm to prevent holdups.
Andi had left me a note at the original camp site directing me to this school just in case I did not pass them. Mucky for me that I had run ahead and passed this village and noticed the school so I would know where to go. I must have used a dozen baby wipes to remove all the red dust off my body and clothes.
What a night tonight. Don’t know if was the dirt but the conversation was excellent. We talked about the prospect of Africa ever changing radically to form a middle class like China or India. We debated global warming.
Finally we talked about serenading the lions to see how they would react. Haven’t laughed so much since Christmas Day. The night was so good, I could not find my tent when it came time to sleep. The tent was the closest it has ever been to the fire - how embarrassment! Many people laughed at this the following morning.
PS: A LITTLE ABOUT MALI:
Lonely Planet features 2 more pages ( 4 in all) on MALI (Pop 14.5m) over GUINEA. No info on towns or places. This is to discourage people from going due to recent events. Older editions of Lonely Planet have complete write-ups since there was no trouble at the time. Once again Mali is not a very travelled country since it has been in conflict since 1990 when the “Tuareg rebellion” began and kidnappings of tourists have occurred in the north-east - we are not going anywhere near there but we are going to Bamako (Pop 1.5m), the capital. MALI was originally inhabited by nomads around 10,000BC. Settlements started in 300BC and by the 6th Century there was trading in gold, salt and slaves. From 700AD to 1500AD MALI was under the empires of Ghana and Songhai. The French took over in 1898 and independence came in 1960. Since then there have been nothing but military coups.
The lighter skinned “Tuareg” people in the north-east were invaded by Muslims in the 1980’s and due to the lack of government intervention the Muslims took over and imposed Sharia law - as a result the Tuareg’s turned against the Mali military and conflicts still exist to this very day, the worst being in 2012 when many thousands of locals were killed and 700,000 fled to neighbouring countries. As a result the economy of the country has collapsed, especially tourism and the country is very poor and disorganised. It did hold free elections in 1998 but it is back to military Presidential rule without indication of more elections. MALI is famous for its music (some say MALI slaves invented The American Blues on the Mississippi), oasis caravan towns in the Sahara and “Timbuktu” which is UNESCO listed because it held all the countries records in ancient libraries, most of which are now destroyed by the conflict!
Most of the north is covered by the Sahara and the “Niger River” (Africa’s 3rd longest) flows 1,600km across the country. Most wild animals have been hunted out of existence but there are some hippos left in inaccessible places. 80% of the population is now Muslim and 2% are Christian with the rest tribal. An unbelievable 48% of the population is under the age of 15! Music is now banned and people can get stoned for adultery!
PPS: INTERESTING FACT ON AFRICA:
60,000 Chinese joined the African Gold Rush at the end of the 1800’s and now there are over a million living on the continent.
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