12 Dec Mali: the niger route

This is a different kind of trip. Before leaving, I was warned that the risk of kidnapping was increasing, especially in the north, endangering our mission. An unimportant detail that I forgot to tell my companions (Justi and Chechu), to spare them unnecessary suffering. So, we decided to go north, but playing by stealth to avoid being kidnapped by the bad guys.

No one would know what our daily plans were, not even us...

It wasn't long after the start of the trip when bad luck struck the jinx of the group, which of course is not me. We got a flat tyre, and soon after, the spare. So we were hopelessly stranded in the savannah. When we were at our worst, we fell prey to an apparition...

The truth is that she left and we were still just as fucked up, but at least for five minutes we enjoyed her company. If she had also been an automotive mechanic, it would have been great.

Our plans to spend the night in Djenne definitely fell through. We had no choice but to wait for dawn in the town of San. There, Justi and Chechu posed as two locals to provide security for us by the mosque, while I took the car to be fixed.

At the mosque in San, I decided to wear my famous blue fleece, so that my Kananga groups could recognise me... here is the picture!!!.... dedicated

That night we slept in the Teriya hotel, I dreamt of a gin and tonic in a balloon glass, but they had neither gin, nor tonic, nor glass, nor balloon. At least the beer was cold.

We couldn't make it to the market in the city of Djenne, which is every Monday, but whatever, they are all very similar, and I'm sure it was very similar to this one in Koutiala.

What I wanted to see was this:

Of Sudanese architecture, the Djenné mosque is the largest mud mosque in the world and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Every year, at the end of Ramadan, during the "plastering festival", the inhabitants of the city give it a coat of mud to make up for what was lost during the rainy season.

The façade is decorated with three eleven-metre-high towers, each topped by an ostrich egg. Inside the mosque there was a silence that invited relaxation, spiritual peace, etc. etc.

But it seems to me that this one had gone too far in relaxing and was having a pajama and potty training session.

Djenné was founded in the 9th century, and its strategic location on the Niger River made it an essential point for trade routes. It is the oldest city in sub-Saharan Africa. I like everything about this city. I start to enjoy it as soon as I get on the ferry that crosses the Bani River to get to the city.

In the city we surprised a family during the meal, thank God they didn't offer us, lest there be onions in it. What is on the plate is to, millet semolina, the typical Malian dish.

Well, I leave you with a couple more pictures of the city and we continue northwards along the Niger.

Further north is the city of Mopti, the main river port on the Niger. A bewilderment everywhere and for me, a compulsive order freak, of course, it affects me a lot... it is even worse than the border crossing of Kousseri, between Chad and Cameroon (have I told you that I lived there...?) which until the other day was, next to my desk, what I considered the biggest chaos in the world.

Pinaza along the Niger as it passes through Mopti, not for nothing but the sunsets on board...

In the port you will never feel alone, if only, you will always be accompanied by an escort of at least 20 inexhaustible salesmen. If they think you are American, as I do because of my uncanny resemblance to Steve MacQueen, you will have twice as many friends...

Further downstream from Mopti are Timbuktu, Gao, etc, but for safety reasons we declined to go, and I hope to be able to go next week. On the way north through the Niger these are the villages, mainly of Bambara ethnicity that you see. All of them with their Sudanese style mosque.

So from there we moved to the Dogon country, one hour away from Mopti (if you don't prick, of course) and if you prick again two more times, it takes a bit longer...

But I'll tell you about that tomorrow, because today je suis fatigué, I've been in a meeting all day long watching over world peace and now I'm going to have a gin and tonic at the worst bar in town, I need a bit of war.