West African Road Trip Part II: Mali and Senegal

Streets of Bamako

View from Hostel



Half of the Group



After a few days in Burkina and a 27 hour bus ride we finally arrived at Bamako, Mali. It was quite obvious that we were in a more prosperous country than Burkina. I wished we would’ve been able to spend longer than 2 days there. Our first day we were there we wasted on pointless trips to the Ghanaian embassy and whatnot. We did meet the ambassador of Ghana to Mali but I would’ve rather spent that amount of time getting to know the country than having pointless small talk. We did get to go to the market which was my favorite part. It was a much different atmosphere than Ghanaian markets. It was much calmer, not that it was calm at all, but at least calmer than markets over here. There were no hawkers grabbing you on the streets or anyone calling out to us. We were able to shop in peace and look around at all the different crafts. Also, it helped that I didn’t understand that much French so I was able to tune things out. All in all, Mali had the potential o be really great if we had more time.

Niger River

The longest trip of all was getting to Dakar, Senegal. Bamako is in central Mali and Dakar was at the very western tip of Senegal, essentially the tip of West Africa. It took us roughly 31 hours to get there. Senegal was very different than Mali and Burkina. Much more developed and industrialized, there was an obvious European influence. The first day was spent at the university at Dakar (another pointless trip) and then after a few of us ventured off and found a small market. The next morning our group found out that the group coordinators had mismanaged the money that all of us paid to go on this trip and they were running out so instead of being there 5 days we were leaving after 3. Everyone was pissed and especially me and Desiree because we paid the most in visas and fees than everyone there. We were fed up and decided to take things in our own hands. We told the coordinators we were not going to spend another pointless day going to embassies and waiting for everyone to get ready and waste even more time; we were going on our own. The main leader threw a hissy fit and took it personal and basically disowned us the rest of the trip but the other coordinators understood why were so angry. That day was probably the best day of the trip. We didn’t have to go around in a group of 40 and we did what we wanted to do. Yeah, we didn’t speak French but we managed to get around just fine. We had a map and months of experience in a sometimes adverse environment in Ghana and we had a great day. We had breakfast at a really good patisserie, walked around the main streets of the city, looked around at the market and just had a good time. Eventually we met up with another girl from our group, Farita, who also left the group and some of the guys that we met at the university offered to show us around. They took us to the Monument de la Renaissance Africaine. This was a newly built statue that was now the highest point in Dakar and weighed over 120 tons to commemorate the African struggle and movement forward. Inside was an exhibit to honor those that fought for African rights and unity and we were even allowed to see the room where the president meets foreign diplomats.

California Girls

The next day we reunited with the group and spent the morning at the market. After the market we tried to take a ferry to the Île de Gorée but as usual we were late and had to wait for the next ferry an hour and a half later. Île de Gorée is a small island off the coast of Dakar where many slaves were kept and transported from during the trans-Atlantic slave trade. We visited the Maison des Esclaves (House of Slaves) where they were all kept and no matter how many times you see it, it’s still astonishing to actually get to see where hundreds of slaves were housed. The rooms were tiny and they were nothing but just concrete walls and dirt. It’s a very emotional experience, except for some who chose to make fun of it. After the island, we were told that the panafricanist student group we had met had arranged for us to meet President Wade of Senegal at the airport where he was giving a speech. Once we got there, no one really thought we were going to get it. After going back and forth and trying to get in different ways, they finally succeeded in getting us in. Of course once we got in, I was told I couldn’t meet him because I was wearing shorts and they starting scolding me like I should know better than that. Hello, we were told about this meeting 30 minutes ago and we were just on an island, of course I wouldn’t be dressed to meet a president. I was so heated that I just agreed to stay and watch the bags. It wasn’t even that big of a deal anyway since it was more of a photo op and they were literally in there for 2 minutes. Anyway, we got back to the hotel and started packing up to leave when we found out that the president gave us $20,000. They decided to let us stay another night, which was the least they could do. We left the next afternoon and 3 days later we were back in Accra.

Typical mode of transportation in Mali

My home for 2 weeks

Group Shot

Overall, the trip had its ups and downs but I had fun. I got to meet people I otherwise would’ve never met and made some pretty good friends. I made some pretty good memories and will always have that to look back on. My only regrets are that we didn’t get to spend enough time in each country and that I did this in a group of 40 whose coordinators didn’t know how to prioritize when traveling. I would definitely visit these countries again on my own.