Trans Africa 9 - Mali

On Monday 9th March Paula an I flew from Algiers to Bamako, the capital of Mali. We had arranged to keep in touch with the progress of the overland tour via telex, with the aim  of rejoining the group in Nigeria. We both felt pretty nervous as the plane touched down in Bamako, we were on our own now! Mali is one of the poorest nations in the world. It was dark as we rode a cab into the city center, all we could see were small groups of people huddled around fires lit beside the road. There seemed to be no high rise blocks in this city only shanty type buildings. We managed to find a very basic hotel which was quite obviously a local brothel - but still it was expensive!

The prices in Mali seemed to be a complete anomaly, as the people were exceptionally poor but the prices seemed to be at an international level. The unrealistic prices were the product of the artificial   pegging of the currency to the French Franc, also many people seemed not to be using currency but instead a bartering system! We had now left behind the Arab world of North Africa and were beginning our exploration of Black Africa. The saleswomen of the Grand Marché were a blaze of color with their coordinated body wraps and head scarves, the atmosphere at the market was very different to the souks of Morocco and Algeria. The climate here was also quite a contrast reaching a scorching 40 degrees almost everyday!
(to be continued)