Monday 10 January
Shake out majority of the Sahara I have brought back with my gear. Chat to a group of 4 young aussie guys from Kew, who have ridden road bikes down overland through MAutitania & Senegal. They are discussing the pros & cons of getting to Timbuctou, as one of their group really wants to get there, one doesn't mind either way & the other two are happy to give it a miss. It is long way but for me the Festival made it so worthwhile.
Apply for a Senegal visa then head up to the museum to find it's shut on Mondays! Start walking back down into town & pass by the Guinea residence who direct me to their consulate (think of a 2 roomed weatherboard building on a large block) a few streets away. They assure me their visa will only take a couple of hours, so I plan to return tomorrow as soon as I pick up my passport
Tuesday 11 January
Visit Museum, average, with only french signage but great restaurant for lunch, pickup passport with a Sengalese visa, dash up to the Guinea who issue it within about 20 minutes. Later @ the hostel, another girls tells of the Burkina visa taking only an hour. This is good news for my return to Bamako in a few weeks. Pack up in readiness for the early morning start to the border. Try folding up my mattress and find it has a leak so it goes no further!
Wednesday 12 January
12 hrs to Kayes
A necessary evil of overland travel is the long distance bus, but I planned a stop @ Keyes after 12 hours - most were onboard for the long haul of nearly 30 hours to Dakar. A memorable conversation with a couple of Ecuadorian travellers who asked me at one of the many stops - "do you think we have passed the border yet?" No, that would require you to get off the bus with your passport and get it stamped!
Shake out majority of the Sahara I have brought back with my gear. Chat to a group of 4 young aussie guys from Kew, who have ridden road bikes down overland through MAutitania & Senegal. They are discussing the pros & cons of getting to Timbuctou, as one of their group really wants to get there, one doesn't mind either way & the other two are happy to give it a miss. It is long way but for me the Festival made it so worthwhile.
Apply for a Senegal visa then head up to the museum to find it's shut on Mondays! Start walking back down into town & pass by the Guinea residence who direct me to their consulate (think of a 2 roomed weatherboard building on a large block) a few streets away. They assure me their visa will only take a couple of hours, so I plan to return tomorrow as soon as I pick up my passport
Tuesday 11 January
Visit Museum, average, with only french signage but great restaurant for lunch, pickup passport with a Sengalese visa, dash up to the Guinea who issue it within about 20 minutes. Later @ the hostel, another girls tells of the Burkina visa taking only an hour. This is good news for my return to Bamako in a few weeks. Pack up in readiness for the early morning start to the border. Try folding up my mattress and find it has a leak so it goes no further!
Wednesday 12 January
12 hrs to Kayes
A necessary evil of overland travel is the long distance bus, but I planned a stop @ Keyes after 12 hours - most were onboard for the long haul of nearly 30 hours to Dakar. A memorable conversation with a couple of Ecuadorian travellers who asked me at one of the many stops - "do you think we have passed the border yet?" No, that would require you to get off the bus with your passport and get it stamped!
3 comments :
HI Jo - Keep up the blogging its amazing and gives me something to do on my lunch! Your trip sounds amazing so far!
xxxx Vic
Thank you Victoria - I will try & keep you amused! Travel is occasionally frustrating, very often funny & usually filled with good people of the world!
whats frustrating is trying to work out what order you did things!
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