Day 41 42 - Mali, Bandiagara - Drunken Locals
Trip Start
Nov 09, 2008
1
33
163
Trip End
Jul 02, 2009
Bandiagara,
Mali
Friday, December 19, 2008
Anyway.... woke up early as wanted to go to Canari for last use of wifi so after breakfast Martin, Sarah, Rach, Josh and I hailed a cab and off we went spending the next few hours uploading photos and checking emails. I had so many from my birthday that I couldn't even check them all! Thanks so much to everyone who sent them. Was thrilled.
Around 3 we stood on the main road and waiting for Nala to swing by and pick us up before continuing on to our Christmas destination of Bandiagara. About 10 min out we stopped to collect firewood.... a group soon wondering down the road with what can only be described as a tree above their, heads. It was massive and took about 6 people to carry back, gathering a local audience along the way which chuckled and stared in awe when the chainsaw came to life.
Fully loaded it was off to the campsite which was situated about 4km from Bandiagara. Nice place with trees, bar, restaurant and the option to upgrade for a reasonable 10,000 CFA (US$20) per night.
Rest of the afternoon was either spent doing household chores of washing, tent cleaning, locker organising, drinking beer, playing Risk or wondering into town. I chose the town option in the hope of using the internet but with 6 computers and about 20 people waiting I quickly ditched the idea and focused instead on getting back to the camp (as there really was NOTHING in town) which was eventually achieved by paying two guys 2,500 CFA to give myself a Clara a ride on the back of their motorbikes. Clara's first time on a bike so was met with Ammmmbeeerrrr as she sped away.
The best breakfast so far was cooked the next day, funnily enough yes it was my cook group J roasted tomatoes, hash browns and eggs to order. A 2hr effort to get everyone fed but definitely well worth it.
Later our long lost friends Suzy, Sam, Murray and Luke arrived back from their Timbuktu adventure and what an adventure it was. After riding on camels into the desert and spending the night with the Toureg and watching the sunrise they returned to Timbuktu early morning and got in the 4x4 pre arranged to take them back to Bandiagara. Unfortunately when they got to the dusty town of Dejeroux some 4 hrs from Timbuktu... or from anywhere actually, they were told "Your business ends here" and had to get out.
A local tout then tried to rip them off on the local bus ticket so they went elsewhere to return to the bus and say "ha ha we got them cheaper" which I'm sure seemed funny at the time but not when the tout told the bus driver not to let them on. So after waiting an hour or so they were eventually allowed on only to be squished in the aisle, Muzza between two massive general dudes. The local bus dropped them kms away from Sevare at 10:30pm so they walked for an hour in the hope of finding a taxi rank. Instead they stumbled across an intoxicated group of locals hanging around " the worlds worst car" . Tired and hungry they haggled a price and jumped in only to see the guy hot wiring the car next to a pool of petrol to which he responded "no problem". Apparently Suzy's face was priceless at this.
So with a totally pissed driver in a hot wired car with collapsing roof and floor soaked in petrol off they went. I quote Muzza's diary entry:-
"Swaying more than an anorexic boxer who had just gone 10 rounds with Mike Tyson, our dilapidated old Volvo rattled off into the darkness. After realising that we were certainly going to die, Luke put his acting skills to the test STOP! STOP! STOP! he screamed and gestured that he was about to be sick all over the passengers".
Jumping out of the car they grabbed their things with the explanation that their very sick friend needed medicine then legged it and hid behind a wall whilst the Volvo u-turned and scanned the darkness with headlights blazing, searching for the rich tourists who had just done a runner without paying.
Holding a collective breath they hiked it back to Sevare through the bushes by the side of the road... occasionally spotting the Volvo doing laps looking for them.
Eventually they were spotted by one of the drunkards on a motorbike at which time Luke put on an Oscar winning performance "dry wretching, spitting, groaning, moaning and wrything in agony, managing to convince the man that he was in need of medical attention". Thankfully because of this they arrived unscathed at Hotel Via Via... it was now midnight.
And people ask if Timbuktu is a hard place to get to....!
At some stage in the following few days we discovered a hotel with swimming pool down the way so spent time there chilling in the cool green waters, drinking cold beer, checking out the pet tortoise, playing with the wooba ball, catching up on suntan, indulging in steak, chips and proper cheese(!) sandwiches and generally just enjoying some time out of the dust and heat.
The other truck had also arrived so were busy setting up camp as we were spending Christmas together and they too were off on the Dogon Trek the next day.
