Western Mali - Diamou to Kita

Sign for the Chutes de Gouina, waterfalls on the Senegal River, Western Mali	Bridge across the Senegal River between Diamou and Sélinkégni, Mali	Buttes across the Senegal River from Diamou, Mali	View of the Senegal River from the Diamou Bridge, Mali
View of the plateaux near Diamou seen from the bridge	View from the Senegal River bridge at Diamou	Senegal River by Diamou, Mali	Baobab at our noontime picnic site
Baobab, Mali	Mesa in western Mali between Diamou and Sélinkégni	Mesa, Western Mali	Gas station in Mali which uses fuel drums
The poorly maintained road between between Diamou and Sélinkégni, Mali	Lilly pad covered pond, Mali	Pretty flower near the pond (I'm not a botanist...)	Lily pad and flower, Mali
A pair women in brightly colored clothing carrying buckets of dishes	Baobab, Mali	Site of a recent bush fire	MaliNov06 478.jpg
Goatherder along the Diamou-Sélinkégni track	One of the goatherder's charges	A couple of clicks and he summoned the herd	The goatherd's flock emerging from the bushes on command
This really amazing encounter was on the road between Diamou and Sélinkégni	Goatherder in Western Mali	One of the rare wildlife sightings. The truck rolled on....	Potty break in the bush, Mali
German nationality sticker covered with dust on our vehicle	MaliNov06 494.jpg	Village of round huts in Western Mali	This shows the basket-like frame of a new hut which serves as support for the mud coating
Village in Western Mali	Another freshly burned area, near Sélinkégni, Mali	A square building with two windows, Mali	Village near Sélinkégni
Another hut with an incomplete mud outer layer	A hut in Western Mali with painted decoration	Village in Western Mali near Sélinkégni	Another hut near Sélinkégni, Mali, with painted decoration
The basket-like start of a new hut, Mali	A hut under construction	Millet, the staple food of the Sahel countries	Millet plants look similar to corn
Rough track, Western Mali	The track descends to cross a dry river bed south of Sélinkégni, Mali	Rotel between Sélinkégni and the Senegal River ferry near Bafoulabé	Rotel Expedition Truck, Mali
The Rotel in a steep descent	Josef opts for the low road	It's slow going in such a big vehicle on the poor roads of Western Mali	Another sunset
Sunset, 3 days since departing Dakar	After a full day of driving, we progress perhaps 80km	Dawn over our bush camping site near the Bafoulabé ferry	Dawn of our third day in Mali, around 225km from the border with Senegal
A new day dawns. Hopefully we will make better progress today...	Bright red morning sky, Western Mali	Dawn, 26 November 2006, Western Mali	High cirrus colored pink, Western Mali
Village mosque, Bakoy River, Mali	Village mosque, Bakoy River, Mali	Mosque, Tintila, Mali	The basis of me calling this village Tintila is a sign which read "Ecole Fondamentale Tintila" but I have no confirmation
Pirogue canoe on the banks of the Bakoy River	Villagers washing the breakfast dishes in the Bakoy River, Mali	Woman doing laundry in the river, Mali	Man poling a pirogue on the Bakoy
The village is located at the point where the Bakoy River becomes the Senegal River	We are here to get a ferry across to the village of Babaroto where we will pick up the road to Manatali	One of the village men poling his pirogue away from shore	Turbaned boatman with a pole, Mali
Turbaned boatman with a pole, Mali	Millipede, Mali	A tree climbing baby goat	Goats playing king of the mountain, Mali
Gai - Ayam - Ji - Niwatori - Poulet - Hähnchen - Pollo - Chicken - Djaj	Helmeted Guineafowl (Perlhühner)	Helmeted Guineafowl	Village at the Bakoy-Bafing ferry that might be named Tintila
Village sur la rive droit de la fleuve Bakoy, Mali	Farmer, Mali	Breakfast is cooking, Mali	Mudbrick ovens, Mali
Sabine drawing for the children	Fleuve Bakoy	MaliNov06 608.jpg	Man padding a canoe (pirogue) Mali
The larger settlement of Bafoulabé is on the opposite side of the Senegal River	Man tending his boat, Mali	Woman rinsing millet	Woman rinsing millet
Pirogue ferryman (Nomory Sow from Babaroto, Mali) in a Fly Emirates shirt	Pirogue ferryman (Nomory Sow from Babaroto, Mali) in a Fly Emirates shirt	Pirogue ferryman (Nomory Sow from Babaroto, Mali) poles his way across the Bakoy	The village mosque in the early morning light
Mosque in the village on the north shore of the Bakoy River	Mosque on the north shore of the Bakoy at the confluence of the Bafing, Mali	Finally, after an hour wait, the small ferry appears to take us across the Bakoy River to Babaroto	Waiting for the ferry to take us across the Bakoy and Bafing Rivers which join here to form the Senegal River
The local Imam, a Hadji	Ferry to take us across the Bakoy near Bafoulabe, Mali	Rotel waiting for the ferry, Mali	The ferry arrives on the north shore
Josef carefully drives the Rotel onto the ferry	Loading the ferry	Luckily, we're the only vehicle waiting to cross the river	North shore of the Bakoy River, Mali
Early morning crossing of the Bakoy River...no hippos today	Downstream from here, the Bakoy and Bafing join to form the Senegal River	View from the pilot house	At this point the Bakoy and Bafing Rivers merge to form the Senegal River
Confluence of the Bakoy and Bafing Rivers, Babaroto, Mali	Looking back at the ferry landing on the north shore of the Bakoy River, Mali	On the ferry	This ferry is brought to you by Malitel
Pirogue shuttling passengers between Babaroto and Bafoulabé, Mali	Pirogue crossing the Bafing River, Mali	The ferry landing at Babaroto, Mali	MaliNov06 658.jpg
MaliNov06 659.jpg	The Bakoy-Bafing Ferry, Mali	Josef driving the Rotel onto the east bank of the Bafing River	The ferry leaves for its second stop at Bafoulabé, Mali
Girl in Babaroto, Mali, waving	Baobab and the Bafing River, Mali	The road on the other side of the river is no better than what we already had behind us	The dirt track from the ferry landing towards Manateli
The track to Manateli	Looks like progress will continue to be slow	Baobab, Western Mali	Baobab and the Bafing River, Mali
Baobab and blue sky, Mali	Village in the Bafing Valley, Mali	Village in the Bafing Valley, Mali	Village in the Bafing Valley, Mali
The dirt track nearing Mahina, Mali	Kids on the outskirts of Mahina, Mali	Once again, we've rejoined the Dakar-Bamako Railroad	Mahina, Mali
Civilization - a gas station with pumps	Dilia, Mali	We stopped to visit the interesting village of Dilia, 1 hr 20 min south of the ferry landing	An uncommon sight, a roadsign in Western Mali
Dilia, Mali	Vessels used for crushing millet	Vessels used for crushing millet, Dilia, Mali	Dilia, Mali
Dilia, Mali	Round thatched hut in Dilia, Bafing Valley, Mali	Cattle grazing in Dilia, Mali	Cow, Dilia, Mali
Villager in bright blue, Dilia, Mali	This is the first village we stopped at that wasn't overrun with children...it must be a school day	Small cooking fire, Dilia, Mali	Dilia, Mali, on the east bank of the Bafing River
African huts in Dilia, Mali	Thatched rondavel, Dilia, Mali	Dilia, Mali, on the east bank of the Bafing River	Dilia, Mali
Dilia, Mali	Where is everybody?	Dilia, Mali	Donkeys, Dilia, Mali
Dishes left out to dry, Dilia, Mali	Woman in Dilia, Mali	Woman in Dilia, Mali	Dilia, Mali, between Mahina and Manatali
Young mother carrying a bucket, Dilia	The bucket contains some kind of fruit	She heads off with her infant wrapped on her back	Pirogues, Bafing River
Pirogues on the banks of the Bafing River at Dilia, Mali	Bafing River at Dilia	Pirogues, Bafing River	Pirogues on the banks of the Bafing River at Dilia, Mali
There's some more activity, Dilia	Two women grinding millet, Dilia, Mali	Two women grinding millet, Dilia, Mali	Woman pauses from the tedious job of grinding millet
Dilia, Mali	The people keep their village very clean	Finally the kids hear the circus is in town	Dilia, Mali
Growing gourds on the roof of a hut	Head man, Dilia, Mali	Girl in Dilia, Mali	Could that be a faded Fly Emirates shirt?
Mother and child, Dilia, Mali	The massive dam at Manantali, completed in 1988	Patrol boat for Lake Manantali, Mali	Lac de Manantali, a large reservoir the size of Lake Geneva formed by the damming of the Bafing River, Mali
Lac de Manantali, Mali	Pirogue tied up on the lake of Manatali, Mali	Pirogue tied up on the lake of Manatali, Mali	Cliffs above Manatali
Thankfully, this steep portion of road is paved	Tambaga, 98km from Manatali, an eternity on these roads	The area between Manatali and Tambaga is cotton country	Cotton field, Mali
Cotton buds	A cotton farmer, Mali	Reiseleiter Günter Adam, keen on agriculture	This tree caused Günter to stop at another village
Village of the Palm Tree between Manatali and Tambaga, Mali	Our guide Günter had never stopped at this village before so he came with us	(at villages where he has stopped before, he just cuts us loose...)	It did feel odd traipsing through people's kitchens...
Basket of corn, Mali	Basket of corn, Mali	Village of the Palm Tree	Woman carrying a kid on her hip
20 white people popping in unexpectedly probably doesn't happen often here	Woman and child, Mali	The villagers seeing us off, a few CFA richer	MaliNov06 773.jpg
Huts in the Village of the Big Tree	About 15 minutes after the Village of the Palm Tree, we stopped at the Village of the Big Tree	Big tree along the road to Tambaga, Mali	Cow checking us out
Village of the Big Tree	Oven, Village of the Big Tree	Many times I was asked if I was a doctor	Village of the Big Tree
We passed through Mali at the time of the cotton harvest	Rocky outcropping along the road to Tambaga, Mali	Bush Taxi - Le Roi De La Foręt, Mali	The end of our third day in Mali
Another sunset and we've not yet reached Kita - 2 1/2 long driving days for 350km	Dawn, Day 4 in Mali. We should reach Bamako today.	Dawn	Sunrise, 27 November 2006
Sunrise, Western Mali	Rotel breaking camp - a quick affair	A welcome sight for the future - road construction outside Kita, Mali	Kita, Mali
Kita, Mali	Sičge ADEMA PASJ - Section de Kita	Kita, Mali	The plan for Mali - vaccination, potable water and education for all children
The main road leaving Kita for the capital, Bamako	Mande Trans bus between Bamako and Kita, Mali	Mande Trans bus between Bamako and Kita, Mali	A line of women along the road
Paved Road!!!! Mali R13 to Bamako	22 minutes later....the main highway is closed for roadwork and we're forced to detour	Collection area for the cotton harvest, Mali	Collection area for the cotton harvest, Mali
Each stack belongs to an individual farmer	Piles of freshly picked cotton near Kita	The harvested cotton awaiting transport, Mali	The cotton is loaded onto big trucks
The men on top use there feet to pack the cotton tight	Men stomping down cotton on a truck, Mali	Loading a cotton truck, Mali	The head man wasn't happy with the disruption but no one else minded
Packing the cotton, Mali	Fly Emirates	A pair of Fly Emirates shirts, Mali	Cattle, between Kita and Bamako, Mali
Cattle, between Kita and Bamako, Mali	A medical clinic along R13 between Kita and Bamako	Bush taxi - L'Union Fait La Force - Mali