Sugar Cane Hotel, Banfora

We have had a lovely meal: I had capitaine (Nile perch) in a tomato, onion and pepper sauce and Chris had beef in a tasty curry. We are awaiting crepes Bretonne for desert. The restaurant is very busy. We will be sleeping in the Enterprise at the rear of the hotel where they have parking.

this region is much greener. After driving past villages with great mounds of cotton freshly picked from the fields we came out into open countryside with big industrial irrigation sprayers watering the crop, Very open fields so looks good for a possible flight here. We are intending to explore the lake area, waterfalls and nearby Sendou Peaks tomorrow, it's all very exciting.

By the way, we are very pleased to see who have joined as followers. A belated 'hello' to Pat (and James) and welcome to Tim and Kaspars.

Banfora, Burkina Faso

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First short message in case wifi crashes. Sitting in open air restaurant of the Canne du Sucre hotel which is the best place in town to eat. We got very dusty on the way here as we took the dirt road direct rather than going via Bobo Dioulasso. The people are friendly and charming and greet us with Bonne Arrivee (welcome). More to follow.

Bafaga Village

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• Bush barby bird near Bafaga Village with laughing ladies with logs.

Leaving Bamako

A quick update as we have another busy day ahead of us and intend to leave the Sleeping Camel sometime today and get on the road for Burkina Faso, so unlikely to have wifi for quite a few days.

Yesterday morning we drove into town across the Martyrs Bridge over the Niger and located the BK embassy, applied for our visas and were told they would be ready by 3pm, all very easy but at a cost of CFA47,000 each (about £60). We then trundled back across the bridge through the chaotic traffic. There are hundreds of motor cycles and they swarm in all directions around us so you have to be alert for the unexpected. On this side of the river they have special cycle lanes and it's like a race track.  On the first day here we saw a man on horseback galloping along with the motorbikes.

It took us a while to find the Nigerian Embassy following the SatNav as it took us down little dirt roads towards the river between 'fields' of lettuces where the gardeners were busy watering the crops with buckets hauled up from wells. All very picturesque with the colour of their dress and surrounding banks of bougainvillea. The Embassy was closed for lunch when we arrived so we visited the nearby big supermarket which has a huge variety of European, Asian and African foods, and bought some ham and pate for our sandwiches, drove down to the riverbank and had something to eat. Back to the Nigerian Embassy for 2pm to collect the visa application form and met the Oasis Overlanders who were told for the umpteenth time to return tomorrow. They are assured they will get their visas today. We have decided not to hang around here and to wait and think about applying for Nigeria when we get to Ghana.

Back across the bridge to collect our BK visas and to go on a search for gas. Chris was excited when he thought he had found a tank of propane, but it turned out not to be! He spent some time trying to fill from a 26 litre cylinder of butane in the roadside shack where they sold gas, much to the amusement of passers by, but our tanks was too warm after being in the rear box in hot sun all day so we had to give up due to the pressure difference in the tanks. It remains a project for this morning or maybe further en route. I was quite happy sitting in the Enterprise at a crossroads watching life go on around me.

By the time we had revisited the supermarket and stocked up on supplies, including a chicken to barbecue today and some beef to go in the freezer, the day had gone. Most people were surprised to see us return here as they thought we had left. Everyone else has been taking taxis to get around and leaving their vehicles here. We decided to spend our last night by going out to a restaurant for a nice meal. Chris chose Le Campagnard from the Lonely Planet and we got a taxi into town. The driver was not sure where to go and got completely lost in spite of asking directions several times.  It took us an hour to get there - 11 mins back, including a fuel stop. The restaurant and bar in particular had been mentioned in Newsweek as the best place to go in Africa. Unfortunately there was no live music as noted, but the food was good.

We have plenty to do to prepare for departure. Will post via sat phone when we are on our way. Intend not to rush to Ouagadougou but maybe find somewhere good to fly.

Mali, EPISODE THREE

Another 5am rise and ready to inflate the balloon when Pam, Salihou and Emilie arrived at 6. This time conditions were better and we bundled Pam into the basket. Off they went at 20 knts. I took the trouble to pack things away before setting off in pursuit driving Pam’s car. The hope had been that they would fly over the town, but the direction took them down the road towards Kayes and we were alongside them as they slowed nicely for a landing on the tarmac. Salihou and Emilie were offered a flight, but as both declined, I replaced Pam and we had a lovely gentle low level flight over flocks of sheep and yet more thorn trees to land after a total of 35 mins since take-off in a clearing, relatively clear of thorny scrub. We had lots of help packing away and Pam went off to hire a donkey cart to transport the balloon back to her place. Chris travelled with it, the basket fitting perfectly into the cart. Pam returned me to the Enterprise and I drove slowly back to town to await arrival of the donkey cart. The remainder of the day was spent resting at Pam’s place, and it was very hot with little breeze to cool the interior of the Enterprise. We packed the balloon back in the box in the evening and had showers for the first time since arrival to wash off all the red dust and sand. Pam’s place itself was very basic with no mains drainage, water or power. The water came from a well, the power was solar and the toilets were of the ‘long drop’ type. We were living in comparative luxury. We were able to fill our water tank at the mains hose by the town water tower (partially treated).

It was a 6-hour drive Diema – Bamako with a lunch stop in the shade of some tall mango trees, surrounded by a small flock of sheep and a calf. There were lots of little birds and bright butterflies. This camp is close to the Martyr’s Bridge over the River Niger on the opposite bank to the town. Tomorrow we intend to visit the Burkina Faso Embassy for our visas, and try to apply for Nigerian ones (90 days) now in case we decide to continue in that direction.  It may take a few days to find out if we are likely to be successful. Will let you know when we are setting off for the border.

We have just come back from a walk to find the nearest supermarket for shopping tomorrow and strolled along the river’s edge passed a small fishing community and lots of little gardens growing lettuces, tomatoes, spring onions and cabbages. There are also some big fancy houses with beautiful gardens.

Mali, EPISODE TWO

On Tuesday morning Pam took us on a tour of the local area, partly to look at possibilities for balloon launch sites and also to visit one of ‘her’ villages (Fangouni?) where money has been spent for various projects. We were able to take lots of photos of the villagers going about their normal lives. Diema is twinned with the French town of Chilly-Mazarin who have channelled EU money into various schemes. Pam has been in Diema for 11 or 12 years with her Village Ventures project, working with local people. The main man, Salihou, an ex-English teacher, had a great deal of influence in the town. When Pam learned about our plan to fly the balloon, she hoped it would put Diema on the map as the international crossroads of Mali in many ways. To this end, she introduced us to Major Moulay Mohamed Touhamy of the Brigade Gendarmerie and he readily agreed to get permission for us to fly in his area. He also provided a fine Malian police hat, complete with badge, in exchange for a British Bobby’s helmet.  That afternoon, we all drove 20kms or so north to the village of Mabruke where they were putting on a concert of music and dance for Mike to record. It was very colourful and the people were wonderful. Some very striking faces and beautiful women. There are 7 different tribes and some are quite distinct. The Berbers are very regal and a lot of them ride horses which surprised me. We then drove back to another nearby village to see them drumming, and joined in with the ladies dancing (sorry no dancing or drumming by Chris). They were preparing food for us, but Chris and I excused ourselves and spent the time walking around the village to see all their livestock and the women pounding millet, to which Chris lent a hand.

Wednesday morning we spent preparing the balloon equipment and in the afternoon, while the rest visited yet another village to hear the really big carved drums, Chris and I drove out to beyond the little airstrip to spend the night in the bush and get the rest of the balloon ready for a morning flight. We were up at 5am the next morning. Pam, Salihou and Emilie arrived at 6am but it was too windy to fly, 15 kts gusting 20. We entertained them with coffee and then had a lazy day on our own to await the evening. We had noted that the wind tended to drop about 6.15pm, with sunset at 6.35 and dark by 6.45. This time we had the balloon laid out ready to go when Pam, Emilie, Julia and Major Touhamy returned. We inflated and it was still ‘bouncy’ but Chris took the opportunity and launched solo at 6.30pm. I bundled the balloon bag into Pam’s car, left everything else and we were off in pursuit, Pam driving as fast as she could over the rough terrain while talking on her mobile to Salihou. If you can view the video taken by the Major with his mobile you can get an idea of the excitement. I was very worried Chris would not be able to see in the poor light where the thorn trees were not, but he came down after a 10 min flight in a large clearing. It would have been a drag landing had we all not been there to catch him. We were quickly surrounded by shepherds and children from a nearby unseen village. Chris was exhilarated but exhausted. He went back with Pam to collect the Enterprise and we stopped the night where the balloon had landed, ready for Thursday morning.

Mali, Pictures 2

Donkey cart retrieve

Pounding millet

Is this how it's done?

Taking a rest

This is Ron in Morris Minor in Senegal