Journey Impressions: Bamako

Bamako: approx. 1.18 m inhabitants (2002)
Mali: approx. 12.7 m inhabitants
Population growth (2008): 2.4%
People per km²: 10.2
Gross national income per person in 2008 PPP: 1,090 USD


15.02.2011 Bamako: Our handling agent Mariama Ludovic de Lys actually did come to see us in the hotel at 7 p.m.

She apologised profusely and suggested going with us to a restaurant with live music. She took us in her land rover through the hustle and bustle of the town. After just 20 minutes we stopped in front of a non-descript fence and open drainage. And to our surprise, behind the fence was an African beer garden with a space for dancing and approx. 100 seats. But there was no band to be seen and apart from us there were no guests. They told us they were closed today and the band had been there yesterday already. But Mariama had her mobile with her and it worked - in contrast to Martin's. We were now heading for a new restaurant. On the way there, other road users suddenly started waving wildly at us. Mariama drove to a petrol station and we discovered that a rear tyre had a puncture. Three Africans looked in vain for tools to change the tyre. But they couldn't find any. Then Mariama organised a frightful looking taxi. It was more of an old banger. But we headed off in it for the restaurant directly on the Niger. Another African friend and employee joined us. We sampled some perch from the Niger. But beforehand we sprayed ourselves with mosquito repellent.

The evening ended with a drive in the friend's virtually new American Chrysler limousine. Beforehand we had arranged to drive into the mountains the next day. Mariama was a Tuareg and married to a Frenchmen who worked at Unicef near Dakar. Mariama owns West Africa Tours and organises customised trips. She is also a handling agent. She's flying to Dakar a day later than us and would like to show us Dakar again. I wonder what that will be like.

16.02.2011 Bamako: Today we're off with a driver to the mountains and to a cultural site where Mali was founded in the 13th century.

After driving two hours through the African steppes and bush, we passed through a village with numerous round huts with straw roofs. A large hut stood on the village square which accommodated a stone made of Kaaba. You could say that this is a place where Muslims in Mali make pilgrimages to. In Mali 90 percent of its population are of Islamic faith. But here there are virtually no women with veils and the Islamic belief is practised in a very tolerant and moderate way.

The rural population has a very low standard of living. The families' huts are only a few square metres in size. Hygiene is very poor. The guide told us that the average life expectancy in Mali is 45 to a maximum of 50 years.

We then drove by an enormous area with a few isolated trees. It was Mali's birthplace. In 1235 AD some 18 kings with their people's delegates had met here to agree on a joint political system with standard laws and a way of forming opinions and taking decisions. Something similar to a monarchist democracy. There are still over 20 different ethnic groups there today. The guide gave us a few examples: Malinke (approx. 3 million), Soninke, Bambara, Fuloni, Songhai, Touareg, Arab, Bobo (who eat dogs), Bozo (Niger fishermen), Kassorke, Minianka, Dogon, Senoufo and Dafing (at approx. 50,000 people the smallest group).

We drove on through the mountains to a huge natural stone arch called Kamadjan in a rock formation spread over approx. 30 km. The historical place of meeting and cults was located here.

The guide told us that the people here had kept their earth religions alongside their Islamic and Christian beliefs. For example he reported that a medicine man had enabled his sister to have a child after all the normal doctors had failed. I asked whether his sister had taken another husband, but he laughed and said no. I expressed my disbelief, but he was not to be persuaded otherwise. Well there was still one explanation that was scientifically possible: it was the medicine man!

Nevertheless superstition has very strong roots and there are plenty of charlatans, like for example magic men, who are up to mischief. Instead of a greater belief in whatever god or medicine man, the people here need more scientific knowledge, more education and more insight into the progress of modern hygiene and medicine.

With a glance at the Hill of Hope on the outskirts of Bamako, the hill on which a hospital and a University of Bamako medical faculty are located, we completed our truly exciting tour.