Overlander

A brief summary of my overland journeys in the past 2 weeks:

• Bamako, Mali to Conakry, Guinea by bush taxi, 24 hours
• Conakry, Guinea to Freetown, Sierra Leone by minibus, 15.5 hours
• Freetown, Sierra Leone to Monrovia, Liberia by bus, minibus and bush taxi, 2 days
• Monrovia, Liberia to Abidjan, Ivory Coast by bush taxis, motorbike and bus, 2 days

All but one of the vehicles were without a working dashboard.

Got lucky at the Malian border

When I was returning to Mali from Burkina Faso, I thought I was going to need to buy a 5-day entry visa for CFA15,000 at the border and then extend it to a full 30-day visa in Bamako, Mali. But, to my surprise, the border official said my old Malian visa was still good, so I only paid CFA1,000 to enter Mali. I believe they clearly misunderstood my old Malian visa: it is a single-entry visa and valid for 1 month. Since I'd already entered AND exited Mali with that visa, I should have been required to get a new one on my second visit. At the same time when I was at the Mali/Burkina Faso border, there were also 2 Americans, 2 Brits and 1 German, and they were all made to pay CFA15,000 to buy a new visa. Whatever the reason was, I felt very lucky, or, maybe they just liked my smile :D

Now I'm back in Mali, I just hope that every other official would think the same, and I would not encounter any problem when leaving.

Up the Niger River in a pinasse

After Timbuktu, I took a small pinasse and travelled up the Niger River for 3 days. Seeing the villages and small settlements dotted on the banks of the river, men netting fish in their little canoes, women washing clothes by the river and children herding cows and goats, it is unforgettable. At night the starry sky reminded me of a few years ago when I took a felucca down the Nile. Two rivers, two places, but I felt it became very blurry as to where exactly I was. It felt like the two places were one, under the same beautiful sky. And falling asleep while staring at the stars is the best thing in life!

Obama in Africa

In just Mali, Obama's image and name are seen everywhere. Most often you will see kids wear a tshirt featuring him and his campaign slogans. And there's countless number of barber shops and small grocery stores that are named after him. Looks like President Obama is more popular abroad than at home.

Timbuktu

Sand and dirt are everywhere, and it feels like this place should have been swallowed by the Sahara long time ago. It's not as majestic as I had thought of it, maybe any legends that are associated with Timbuktu have been erased by the wind and sand.

En route to Timbuktu

I left Bamako this morning, after about 9 hours on a bus, I arrived to Mopti. From Mopti, I can either take a boat or shared 4WD to Timbuktu. But I think I'll first stay in Mopti for 2 nights and then decide how I want to reach Timbuktu.