The Mali Way

Bus travel in other countries is always an adventure. You never know what the passenger to seat ratio will be (almost certainly more passengers than seats), what assortment of sounds, smells and sights – both on the bus and off - the trip will bring. This was no different.
The bus started out full, and soon became packed, with people sitting on luggage and water canisters in the aisle, children on strangers' laps. Laura and I were the only non-Mali aboard, as far as we could tell. We were traveling like the locals do.

We met Setti, a young teacher from a town nearby Sevare. He was a fountain of information, as he grew up in Timbuktu, now works near Sevare (our destination), and travels often to visit family in Bamako (where we were coming from). He explained the education system, the areas we were traveling through, even how he lost the girl he loved because she found someone that made more money than him (teachers are also poorly paid in Mali). So he wrote a hip hop song about it. He told us about the various foods that were being sold at each of the bus stops, and even brought us a bag of peanuts.

At each bus stop the doors would open and people would jam on, holding various food items in the air, shouting what was for sale. We saw bread and sweets, fruit, something that looked like a cross between a carrot and celery (later identified as heart of palm), and various nefarious looking bottles. Children would sing songs – religious songs, I think – outside of the bus begging for money. Then the doors would close and we’d move on to the next town. Or seemingly random stops at the side of the road where people would get off/get on from the middle of nowhere.

About 6:30 – 11 hours after we left Bamako - we pulled into the Mopti station, were swarmed by young men wanting to carry our luggage or be our taxi. There are no “official” taxis here, nothing yellow with a lit taxi sign. Just men with cars of questionable reliability. Setti stepped in again to help, found a driver for us and a fair fare.

We arrived at Mac’s Refuge, on the edge of Sevare (about 2km away) in just a few minutes. We were greeted by a wonderful aroma coming out of the main house. We had arrived just in time for dinner. We threw our bags in the room, rinsed our faces and joined a full table for a fabulous four course dinner – 2 kinds of soup (bean and yogurt), beef ragout with potatoes and yams, salad (guaranteed to be safe, as all veggies were washed in purified water), and, for dessert (dessert!), sesame cakes, home made vanilla ice cream and warm chocolate sauce. The company was just as delightful – four Norwegians and Mac. Mac’s parents were missionaries in Mali, and he grew up here. In an “It’s a small world afterall” moment, we learned that Mac’s family home is in Cuyahoga Falls, and his brother still lives there. He has amazing stories of growing up between Mali, the US, and boarding school.

After hearing about all there is to do in the area, we spent time Tuesday night reworking our plan. We decided to change our flight to Timbuktu to shorten our stay there, and have more time in the Mopti/Sevare area. We went back to our original plan of a 3 day trek through Dogon country, and are hoping to do a day trip to Djenne, a nearby market town after the trek. If there is time, maybe a sunset boat ride on the Niger.

Mali is treating us very well. We leave tomorrow for our trek. I hope I can hold up under the heat, but I have no worries that the people along the way will do everything they can to make sure we have the best time possible. That is just the Mali way.