Get out of Bamako quick smart

Thursday 23 December
Up @ 6am, pack and walk a dusty dirt road when a taxi finds me and again my fractured french gets me to the right place - a bus station! In Bamako, if you want to go north, that bus station is south of the city. But its not a bus station as such - more a series of bus companies along a very major busy road. The nun had suggested that she like Bittar buses, but alas the bus that day to Sevare was already filled. So I walked down the road to Bani buses, where I joined in the jostle @ the ticket window.  A bloke pushed in to buy tix for Sevare - I gave him my best 'old lady evil eye' which seems to do the trick - he asks my name for the list and gets me a ticket too! Whoa - that wasn't too hard. Breakfast outside is an omelette in lovely french baguette, and a black tea. Then back to the bus 'yard' where the smallest bus seems to getting the biggest attention & yes, its the bus to Sevare. An hour later after all of the bigger buses leave, our bus is loaded to everyones' satisfaction and now women are sneaking in the closed doors, claiming seats. I gain the attention of one woman inside & give her one of my bags, to also claim a seat. Then comes the reading out of names, in order of booking to gain entry to the bus. Finally I'm called & get on, I find the woman who I gave my bag to and she indicates the front of the bus. I think she means that my bag was taken off, and I ask her pour qui? Why? I then head back off the bus to notice that my bag has actually claimed a front seat. Fantastic! I thank the woman profusely, smiling & gesticulating, as you do on a crowded bus. And then we're off. And we're going & going & going & going & going. When we arrive in Segou after 1pm, I realise my hopes of getting to Sevare in the afternoon are dashed. When we stop for prayers at sunset I gather my hopes of getting to Sevare before nightfall are dashed again. I try staying awake on the bus (very hard for me) so I can look for the hostel sign to walk 1 km from the main road rather than backtracking from town. I spot the light pollution and a red airport light - ask a bloke on the bus - (in my best fractured french, of course) if this was Sevare. No he replies, its Mopti. OMG - what are we doing in Mopti, I wonder, but he is quickly corrected by another passenger, i spot my sigh and go into paroxyms of ici, ici, ici. Everyone is laughing and I am so so happy to get off that bus. I wish the bus passengers au revoir and am rewarded with bye bye from the bus with lots of waves as it pulls away. I'm so happy to walking towards another destination off that bus! I walked the km to Macs Refuge, arriving around 8pm. Mac informs me I've missed dinner and truly that's the last thing I care about, but he insists on reheating soup & beef lasagna, there is coleslaw AND then he offers me chocolate cake!! It all seems so unreal that I pass on the chocolate cake (I know, I couldn't really beleive it either) but nibble on dates dates filled with home made peanut butter mmm very tasty ! Mac offers me a room for the price of the dorm - of course I take it - & settle in for a couple of days R & R to try to find my feet in Africa & work out the value of a CFA!