This is a picture of the guide I have hired for my stay in Mali. His name is Moussoudou Baby dit Pappa.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Getting Started
Well, I have my airline tickets, Ottawa to Montreal by bus, Air France Montreal to Paris, and Air France Paris to Niamey. I will be busing from Niamey to Ouagoudougou, and thence to Bamako, and then Air France back to Paris, Montreal and home to Ottawa. My boss Mika very kindly paid for my tickets from Ottawa to Paris and back, as a thank-you for my having been with Singing Pebble for 10 years. That covered half the cost of my flights right there, a wonderful present! (Much better than a watch or a pin!)
One of the main reasons I am visiting Niger and Mali is to visit two of my sponsored children, Fatima in Niger, and Diarah in Mali. I sponsor Fatima through World Vision and Diarah through Save the Children U.S.A. (Save the Children Canada doesn't do sponsorships). I am still finalizing the details of the visits with the two agencies.
I am going to be in Niger for about a week, just long enough to visit Fatima. I will be arriving in Niamey May 30th, a Sunday. I will take the local bus to Maradi, the nearest town to where Fatima lives, and there I will connect with the local World Vision staff. They originally wanted to drive me from Niamey, but that was going to cost over $600, including several days' hotel, food, per diem wages, fuel, etc, while the bus costs about $20. After the visit, I will take the bus from Niamey to Ouagoudougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, where I hope to stay overnight before continuing by bus to Bamako.
Diarah lives near Sikasso, in Mali. I still haven't heard from Save the Children about the local details, but it will probably be up to me to make my own way to Sikasso. This all still leaves me with about 2 and a half weeks in Mali before I fly home on the 27th of June. I want to visit Timbuktu of course, but I also want to see Mopti and Djenne, and visit the Bandiagara escarpment where the Dogon people live. When I looked into tours of Mali, most seemed prohibitively expensive for one person travelling alone - anywhere from $3000 to $7000 US for a week to 10 days. I searched and searched until I found Papa, a local tour guide who has promised me a custom-designed trip for 2100 Euros, or about $2900 Canadian. He will meet me in Sikasso, and take me to all the places I want to visit, and return to Bamako on the 26th. We have been corresponding in a mixture of English (me) and French (him) via email for the past month or so to finalize the details. He says he speaks English although he doesn't write it. I hope for both our sakes he does, because my French is pretty pathetic!
One of the main reasons I am visiting Niger and Mali is to visit two of my sponsored children, Fatima in Niger, and Diarah in Mali. I sponsor Fatima through World Vision and Diarah through Save the Children U.S.A. (Save the Children Canada doesn't do sponsorships). I am still finalizing the details of the visits with the two agencies.
I am going to be in Niger for about a week, just long enough to visit Fatima. I will be arriving in Niamey May 30th, a Sunday. I will take the local bus to Maradi, the nearest town to where Fatima lives, and there I will connect with the local World Vision staff. They originally wanted to drive me from Niamey, but that was going to cost over $600, including several days' hotel, food, per diem wages, fuel, etc, while the bus costs about $20. After the visit, I will take the bus from Niamey to Ouagoudougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, where I hope to stay overnight before continuing by bus to Bamako.
Diarah lives near Sikasso, in Mali. I still haven't heard from Save the Children about the local details, but it will probably be up to me to make my own way to Sikasso. This all still leaves me with about 2 and a half weeks in Mali before I fly home on the 27th of June. I want to visit Timbuktu of course, but I also want to see Mopti and Djenne, and visit the Bandiagara escarpment where the Dogon people live. When I looked into tours of Mali, most seemed prohibitively expensive for one person travelling alone - anywhere from $3000 to $7000 US for a week to 10 days. I searched and searched until I found Papa, a local tour guide who has promised me a custom-designed trip for 2100 Euros, or about $2900 Canadian. He will meet me in Sikasso, and take me to all the places I want to visit, and return to Bamako on the 26th. We have been corresponding in a mixture of English (me) and French (him) via email for the past month or so to finalize the details. He says he speaks English although he doesn't write it. I hope for both our sakes he does, because my French is pretty pathetic!
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