An African bus is never full.... |
The main east-west highway through Mali connecting Bamako and Gao, this portion between Konna and Douentza |
Mali Route N16 Konna-Douentza |
Cattle and sheep herds at a waterhole by a village along N16, Mali |
Man herding cattle, Central Mali |
Man in a traditional hat carrying a little lamb |
Nomad huts, central Mali |
Nomad huts, central Mali |
Our first camels |
Men mounted on camels along the Timbuktu track |
Man in a traditional hat wearing a tuareg blue galabaya |
Village in Central Mali |
Mudbrick mosque in a village between Konna and Douentza, marked on the Michelin map as Boré |
Mosque in Boré, a village between Konna and Douentza (possibly Boré) |
Boré Mosquée, between Konna and Douentza (possibly Boré) |
MaliNov06 3051.jpg |
Lily pond, Mali |
Lily pond, Mali |
Lily pond, Mali |
Herd of cattle with the Dogon Plateau in the distance |
North edge of Dogonland near Douentza, Mali |
Village at the base of the north end of the Bandiagara Escarpment |
Northern edge of Dogon Country near Douentza, Mali |
Brickyard, Douentza |
Sonef Transport Voyageurs Restaurant le Bonheur, Douentza |
Sonef Transport Voyageurs Restaurant le Bonheur, Douentza |
Mountains rising to the north of Douentza, Mali |
Mosque of Douentza, Mali |
Douentza Express - Telephone, Restaurant |
Mudflaps of a truck in Douentza, Mali |
The other female motif for a truck - Thanks Mom |
Restaurant Tombouctou, Douentza, Mali |
Douentza is the start of the Route de l'Espoir, a 195 km track to the Timbuktu ferry |
Start of the Route of Hope ... I hope you find the Timbuktu Ferry |
Tough to believe that there are elephants in Central Mali - Reserve des Elephants du Gourma, Douentza |
Western end of the Monts du Hombori, just north of Douentza |
Monts du Hombori, Mali |
White-ish camel in tall grass, Mali |
Those look like our first real Tuareg mounted on camels |
Monts du Hombori |
Western end of the Gandamia Mountains |
One map calls these the Gandamia Mountains, another Monts du Hombori |
Evening falls, Mali |
Evening, Mali |
Our 20 passenger Rotel Tours truck, Das Rollende Hotel |
Rotel campsite north of Douentza |
Nearly full moon on a clear Sahel night, Mali |
The next morning, a man on a camel passes our campsite |
|
|
A 4x4 off the track |
Rotel in the desert on the way to Timbuktu |
Back on track, 160km to the ferry |
Route de l'Espoir, Mali |
Not far from the track, we spotted a nomad camp |
Sory, our local guide from Mopti took us out to visit the nomads |
At first they ran away but Sory was able to talk them into coming back out |
Nomad camp between Douentza and Timbuktu |
Family of Nomads camped along the track to Timbuktu |
These people are racially different than the black Africans we had encountered so far |
Nomad camp near the Douentza-Timbuktu track |
Nomadic women and children, I believe they are Tuareg |
Nomad family and hut |
The men of the Tuareg nomad family we had just visited |
Tuareg men walking along the track |
Man of the Tuareg nomad family |
Tuareg woman |
Every 10km or so is a Forage (water well) |
Village of Bambara Maoude, Mali |
Village of Bambara-Maoundé, Mali |
Bambara-Maoundé, Mali, close to the halfway point from Douentza to Timbuktu |
Bambara-Maoundé, Mali |
Bambara-Maoundé, Mali |
Bambara-Maoundé, Mali |
Bambara-Maoundé, Mali |
The Sahel south of the Niger River heading for Timbuktu, Mali |
A tiny village of primitive huts along the track to Timbuktu, Mali |
People who seem to be waiting for some form of transportation |
Village along the track to Timbuktu, Mali |
This is a clan of Bella who we would end up spending quite some time with at the ferry |
Very large extended family of Bella waiting for a truck to take them to the Timbuktu ferry |
A mix of fashions |
Bella family on the move with all their possessions |
Hut in the village |
Kids at a stop along the Timbuktu track |
Ancient woman |
Everywhere we go we make quite a scene |
This could perhaps explain why the road is so bad... |
Tough to believe there's a school out here... |
It's looking more an more Saharan |
Camel, Mali |
Darsalam m Babou I |
Girls in colorful dresses, Darsalam |
Tiboraghen, Mali |
Tiboraghen, Mali |
Termite mound |
Wetlands indicating the Niger River can't be far |
Fleuve Tbtou 5km |
Fleuve Tombouctou 5 km |
Hamdulillah! |
We'll worry about that tomorrow... |
Tuareg men by the Timbuktu ferry |
Tuareg chief with sword and rifle |
Pirogue on the south bank of the Niger River at the Timbuktu Ferry |
Painting on a pirogue, Niger River, Mali |
A crazy German from Augsburg drove here in a Mercedes wagon! |
The Timbuktu Ferry |
Traffic waiting to board the Timbuktu Ferry |
The full ferry leaving without us |
With the very high water and very slow ferry, each round trip took over 2 hr 30 min |
We've got lots of time to wait! |
Cow waiting for the ferry |
Cow along the Niger |
Man herds a bull through the shallow water of the Niger River |
Grilled meat for sale during our 8 hour wait for the ferry |
The Bella clan we saw earlier arrive at the ferry by truck about an hour after us |
The totally culturally insensitive German doctor thinking he's in France (at least he kept his shorts on) |
Pious Muslim performing the al-'asr (afternoon) prayer |
The Bella unload their village onto the ferry landing |
Bella at the Timbuktu ferry |
The tire of the truck they arrived in |
Bella clan unloading their truck |
Bella clan at the Timbuktu ferry, Mali |
MaliNov06 3250.jpg |
Along the Niger River, Mali |
Can you hold that while I take some photos? |
Tuarge man with mobile phone |
Bella girl, Mali |
Bella woman and child with the Niger River |
The Bella tribe was formerly held in slavery by the Tuareg |
Sabine |
Carla Zanellini |
Carla's new friend |
Carla Zanellini from Milan breaking the ice with the Bella |
Bella girl tries on Carla's glasses |
Bella woman posing with Carla's sunglasses |
Bella woman showing us some fabric |
Our long wait for the ferry turned out to be quite interesting |
Silhouette of a pirogue driver |
Silhouette of a woman grinding millet |
Udo spielt Mundharmonika |
Udo Stark playing the harmonica for the Bella while waiting for the ferry |
Udo Stark playing the harmonica for the Bella while waiting for the ferry |
Boy with glasses, Mali |
Woman grinding millet with the late afternoon sun |
Carla gives millet grinding a go - hard work |
Bull along the Niger River, Timbuktu Ferry |
Man tying up the young bull |
2 1/2 hours later, the ferry returns |
Sunset over the Niger River at the Timbuktu Ferry |
Silhouette of the tethered bull |
Silouettes of men by the Niger River |
The Bella clan loading their village on the ferry |
Man in colorful robes and turban |
A very very unhappy goat being dragged away to a waiting pirogue |
Sunset and the ferry leaves without us... |
Waiting under a full moon, Timbuktu ferry, Mali |
Finally, 8 hours after our arrival at the ferry landing, we're crossing the Niger River to Timbuktu |
MaliNov06 3311.jpg |
Rotel crossing of the Niger River by ferry to Timbuktu |
Moon halo, Mali |
Moon over Mali |
Port of Korioumé on our return trip after spending a night in Timbuktu |
After 2 nights in Timbuktu, we try and get an early start back across the ferry, but several large trucks are already waiting |
Port of Korioumé |
American food aid to Mali |
USAID to Mali, Port of Korioumé |
USAID sacks stacked on the quay at the Port of Korioumé, Mali |
American food aid to Africa - USAID split yellow peas |
Hopefully all this is ending up where it's needed... |
"USAID - From the American People" |
Niger River at the Port of Korioumé |
Port of Korioumé |
During most of the year, the Niger River is much lower |
Port of Korioumé, Mali |
Port of Korioumé, Mali |
Port of Korioumé, Mali |
Port of Korioumé, Mali |
Place Réservé au Bac Koriome |
Port of Korioumé |
Who Knows the Future - like when we're going to get on the ferry! |
Niger River high water over the trees that line the road to Timbuktu |
Korioumé |
Laughing Dove, Mali |
Village blacksmith, Port of Korioumé, Mali |
Blacksmith in Korioumé, the village where the ferry arrives 18 km from Tombouctou (Timbuktu) |
Blacksmith in Korioumé, Mali |
Blacksmith at work, Korioumé, Mali |
Boy in the village of Korioumé, Mali |
Huts in Korioumé, Mali |
Hen and chicks, Korioumé, Mali |
Korioumé, Mali |
Korioumé, Mali |
Plate-Form Multi-Fonctionnelle - Village du Koriome |
Mosque of Korioumé |
Mosque of Korioumé |
Mosque of Korioumé |
Pinasses at Korioumé on the Niger River, Mali |
Korioumé, Mali |
Man with green turban on motorbike |
90 minutes after our arrival, the first two big trucks board the ferry |
Two big trucks make a full ferry load, so we have to wait |
MaliNov06 3638.jpg |
MaliNov06 3640.jpg |
MaliNov06 3642.jpg |
MaliNov06 3644.jpg |
MaliNov06 3645.jpg |
MaliNov06 3583.jpg |
MaliNov06 3649.jpg |
MaliNov06 3650.jpg |
Sory, our local guide, promisies we'll make the next ferry |
Three hours later, the ferry returns |
Camels arriving in Korioumé on the Niger River ferry |
Camels on the Niger River ferry, Timbuktu |
Camels on the Niger River ferry, Korioumé, Mali |
The camels seemed very reluctant to be on the ferry |
...and they were not to easy to unload either... |
Tuareg trying to control his camels |
Tuareg man leading camels off the Timbuktu Ferry at Camels on the Niger River ferry, Korioumé, Mali |
Unruly camels is probably why it took so long for the ferry to return this time |
The camels weren't too pleased |
Camel showing his displeasure |
Korioumé, Mali |
Camel train passing the Rotel, Korioumé, Mali |
Look at the mess they made! |
The Tuareg get the last of the camels off the ferry, Korioumé, Mali |
Our local guide from Mopti, Sory, arranges us priority on the ferry by offering an official a lift to Douentza |
As it turned out, the official found a faster vehicle but we were able to keep our spot |
I didn't realize camels made so much shit...I guess they weren't thrilled with river travel |
Korioumé, Mali from the ferry to the south bank of the Niger River |
Korioumé, Mali |
Korioumé, Mali |
Korioumé, Mali |
Korioumé, Mali |
Niger River |
A boat sunk in the shallows of the Niger River |
Man with a Qadafi t-shirt, Timbuktu ferry |
Korioumé, Mali |
Korioumé, Mali |
A spit of land connected to the south bank of the Niger River |
Due to the extremely high water on the Niger River (Nov 2006) this small village is nearly an island |
With the normally low water levels the ferry crossing is much shorter |
South bank of the Niger River, Timbuktu Ferry |
Pirogue with villagers, Mali |
The crossing took nearly an hour |
The northern end of the Timbuktu track - now back to Douentza |
Wildlife sightings in Mali are rare - Roadkill |
Roadkill snake, Mali |
Backtracking along the Route d'Espoire back to Douentza |
Sahel |
Camels along the Timbuktu track |
Camels and donkeys |