11 May: After 9 hours of traveling, the guy behind me coughing constantly, we finally arrived in Mopti at 06h00. The heat was overwhelming and I was swollen twice my normal size and as usual, full of dust. Ten minutes later, we were on another bus – back to Sevare, where we were supposed to have gotten off.
A heavenly shower at the motor park followed, and my sense of humour re-emerged. We were told the bus would leave at 14h00. Abraham, a guide from Tim buktu
It was hot but I enjoyed the little breeze coming through the window – until the guy in front of me started to puke, and everything came flying through the open window. I got a bit hysterical.
A quick lunch break 160 km further followed but it was too hot so I got back on the bus. The scenery up till here were sad, but suddenly the scene changed and kilometers of mountains followed, with the only backdraw the guy in front still car sick and the luggage behind us falling on top of us. Several mistaken spottings of Fatima's hand followed and by the time we finally reached Hombori at 18h00, 12 hours after we started, we were too scared to take another guess.
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| Mountains, mountains everywhere |
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| Our guest house - it was too hot to shower |
12 May: I was up by 3h30 and Amadou arrived at 5. The hike to the mountain was fantastic, he wanted to rest but remembering the heat; I pushed on, not knowing what to expect and thinking we would be back in 4 hours.
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| On our way to the mountain - armed with 6l of water each |
I was given 2 slings with carabineers and shown how it is done. It was perfect, I didn’t feel too intimidated but it was everything except boring.
The 90 m climb took longer than what I expected and the clouds were a blessing. After the climb, we had to hike up to the top. Once on top, 5 drops of rain fell before the sun was out in full force.
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| On our way to the mountain - armed with 6l of water each |
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| Amadou setting up the rope |
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| It was guite fun climbing to the top |
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| On top of Senegal's highest peak |
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Amadou on his way down |
Amadou warned me about the heat and I took 6 liters with me. I had two sachets of water left and was seriously thinking if I should share it with him since he ran out of water. I stopped to give him one; mentioning that it’s our last water and in the process dropped the precious sachet and we shared the last 500 ml of water.
I also realized that all the locals and tourists have left for a cooler place and that we were the only crazy tourists trying to climb and hike. There was no one to have our pictures taken with or to give the kola nuts, and the water we brought with us got so hot, we actually got a cleansing treatment in the process.
I smelled the carcass before I stumbled upon it, and was then told that even the lizards die of the heat. Years ago I saw a move called Dirkie and I could just imagine what the little boy that got lost in a desert must have felt like. I tried picturing a cool breeze but started imagining diving into a blue ice cold pool, and then I thought diving into a muddy bilharzia infested dam would be great as well.
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| We suffered from dehydration |
We finally made it back to the Auberge, I shouted at Al, grabbed some money before running to the garage and opened and downed half a liter of water before going back to give Amadou some as well. We were both dehydrated and even the hot shower I took was perfect. The owner then called me saying he has ordered colder water and that I should have another shower, which I off course didn’t decline. I couldn’t bear the thought of sweating under the mosquito net and was convinced that the mosquitoes have fled as well.
I took my mattress and erected a semi mosquito net, soaked my Mali
13 May: 04h00 and we were waiting next to the road for the bus. The Binki bus arrived at 6h30. The bus stopped again after two hours and disappeared for three hours. Apparently they had engine problems. Alan surprised me with a frozen water sachet and I have never had something as delicious. Unfortunately, he left his on the bus and three hours later, it was boiling. Once again, we had the little girls selling their food. I bough peanuts to keep me busy and I shared it with the boys begging for food. The one girl took it upon herself to be my guardian angel and when I offered her some, she declined, but offered us food instead.
The locals seem to suffer just as much from the heat and we finally arrived in Sevare at 17h00, after having several more stops. We bumped into Abraham, who seemed ecstatic to see us and walked with us to the bank, telling us all about his Rasta festival. Once back, we were told that our bus is leaving. I rushed to the shower, getting in with clothes and all, rushed back just in time since the passengers were all shouting at Alan and Abraham. Luckily, Abraham managed to get me some bread and mangoes plus some cool water, I had a shower and could face another 12 hours traveling. Everywhere we go we get a guardian angel looking after us, helping us with the transport and accommodation. Abraham was just glad to have met us.
On the bus, I grabbed a double seat, knowing the possibility of having a double seat the whole way was slim. I was also getting stiff from the climb the previous day and tried to sleep as much as possible, knowing my sense of humour might desert me any time. I always had a vision of traveling in
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| A Taxi |
Two farms worth of chickens were hauled on the roof, goats were put in compartment in the left, and fish in the compartment in the right. Alan informed me that our bags were thrown in with the fish, but since I survived the guy getting car sick, the guys chewing bubblegum non stop, the guy coughing all over me and the heat, I reckoned I could deal with the fish smelling backpack when the time comes. The fascinating bit was the fancy bus with the TV carrying all the animals.
30 km further we had a flat, but I was determined to stick to my two seats and stayed on the bus. We were seriously dehydrated and tried to drink lots of water. I have managed the perfect position to sleep in, moving my bum close to the window; I had two full seats for my body.
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| The ice lady - she saved my life. |
After a quick shower, we were off to the Mauritanian embassy where we waited around till 14h00 before picking up our visas. Alan had lost his sense of humour back at the hotel and had fallen asleep once back there while I amused myself by watching the battery charger. Finally it was time for a walk and we got around to an internet cafe, and I got a bit lost walking back but luckily I had the GPS so I did end up in the hotel after a while. It turned out that the hotel can be rented by the hour.
15 May: We first got a taxi and then a bus to Nouckchott, the Capital of Mauritania. I could not believe my luck. It was boiling hot but I got a frozen ice bag which saved my life for two hours. We were then passed on to another taxi, still thinking we were well on our way to
After exploding, we paid the additional fee and booked into a hotel. Then it was time to explore the little border
16 May: I was able to get a sugar free coffee and an onion free omelet using sign language. The bus was only leaving at 14h00, so we bought a cooler box and 5 kg of peanuts. If I had a tweezers with me, I could have passed the time by plucking my leg hairs out one by one. At 13h30, I bought 3 bags of ice, put 2 in the cooler box and spoiled myself for an hour with the third one. The bus finally arrived by 16h00 and took us to the border where few people could speak English.
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| Getting friendly with a goat - ice bucket in hand |
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| Gatvol - how long can you last in this heat? |
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