Take a boat trip on the Niger River:

Yes, less than a mile from my house, I can take a leisurely cruise on this boat:

We went on New Year’s Day (with Clive, whom I greatly thank for the photos in this post) and it was a relaxing and enjoyable experience! The whole trip lasted around two hours – under the Old Bridge and almost as far as the New Bridge. We then doubled back and went eastwards into the countryside, with views like this:

Very pleasant! The boat held around ten people and was powered by a motor. The whole trip cost 2,000cfa per person (that’s around £2.80), which is good value for money! To catch the boat yourself, take the road to the right of the ‘Amandine’ restaurant near the old bridge (the CRS/Bla Bla road) to the very end and ask for the boat ride man. Should work!

Have a good trip!

Visit the Luna Park!

Bamako’s answer to Alton Towers, the Luna Park has some fun rides for all the family (and some lethal-looking ones too!)

Of course, it is considerably more ‘down market’ than any theme park I’ve been to in Europe, but still fun! We especially enjoyed the dodgems – or bumper cars, which is a better name because you are actually allowed to bump here! There was also a fun ride which went round in circles and you could press a button to move up or down!

However, the merry-go-round (or terror-go-round) was an ‘unforgettable experience’ (top right photo). It seemed to have only one speed: very fast, and the seats swung out at about a 45 degree angle. Finally, it went on for what felt like an age. My daughter threw up after going on it, and I felt dizzy for quite a while! Kind of fun, but not for the faint-hearted!

The Luna Park opens around 4:00pm and is worth a visit (but don’t blame me for any injury/discomfort/trauma suffered during your trip!) There are loads of nice photos of the park here and an article in French (showing the park packed out to capacity) here.

Of course, the Luna Park reminded us of “Magicland” in Cotonou (blogged about here) and, whilst that one was newer and therefore less run down, I think that the Luna Park has as much to offer in different ways.

Thanks for reading!

Visit the zoo!

Now, I must confess I was dubious about visiting the place; I’d been to other African zoos and generally not been impressed by the conditions (of the animals and how they’re kept). However, I was pleasantly surprised by Bamako zoo, which was well laid out and with a good range of animals to see. AND…they were all still alive!!

Okay, I admit that they’re not kept in conditions comparable with many European zoos, but after seeing Cotonou’s attempt at a zoo (ie a donkey, a sad-looking lion and two pots full of snakes), it really wasn’t all that bad. Here’s a list (from memory) of animals we saw:

Lions
Monkeys
Chimps
Hyenas
Deer
An elephant
A crocodile
A warthog
Marabou Storks
Pelicans
Snakes
Turtles
Fish

They even used to have manatees, but their pool is now empty. The guys at the zoo assured me more manatees were ‘on order’ and would arrive soon!

However, a relatively new addition was the baby elephant, which the kids loved:

Click here for another blogger’s description of Bamako Zoo and here for a couple more nice photos of the place. The best thing was the entry fee: 50cfa per person (that’s about 8 pence!) Mind you, to enter the elephant enclosure, we had to pay an extra 500. T.I.A.!!!

Visit the “Tour d’Afrique” in Faladie.

There it is! An impressive piece of architecture, I think you’ll agree! Located on the edge of town, the “Tower of Africa” can be seen for miles around. In spite of its distinctive character, I can find no information about when or why it was built (anyone help?)

So, for a fun visit with the family, get a SOTRAMA from near Azar’s supermarket in Badala (for only 150 cfa each) and you should be there in 15-30 mins. Then you can climb the stairs to the top for under 1000cfa (usually) or even catch the lift if you’re feeling brave!

The view from the top is interesting, but unimpressive; the location of the tower means you’re mostly looking out on a series of dual carriageways and flat suburbs in every direction:

Inside, there are painted displays on every floor, showing agriculture, industry, technology and (I presume) former Malian presidents:

Here’s a large photo of the tower on Wikipedia and here’s its location, courtesy of Google maps. Bamako is well endowed with interesting monuments of all shapes and sizes – see some more of them here.

Have a fun trip!