Archive for November, 2011

Nov
30
Filed Under (Random Photo of the Week) by Rob on 30-11-2011

Rob getting acquainted with a warthog in Nigeria!



Nov
26
Filed Under (General, Things to do in Bamako) by Rob on 26-11-2011

Have a couple of days break chilling out at the Hotel Woloni in Selingué:

It’s less than two hours’ drive from Bamako in a quiet location by the lake. You can play pétanque, go for a stroll, have a swim in the lake or take a boat trip (usually). And if you don’t want to swim in the lake itself, there’s always the nice L-shaped swimming pool on site too:

The hotel’s restaurant serves good food, but it a tad pricey. It is on stilts at the edge of the lake. Well, I say in the lake but it does rather depend on what time of the year you go there. It’s only really from October to December that you’re likely to find the water up that high; other times and the lake is still there, just a few metres walk away! Here it is:

Now, because the restaurant is a little pricey, we tend to take our own food (to which nobody seems to object) and/or eat at the Senegalese Restaurant just the other side of the dam (which does tasty meals from around 1500cfa). You could also try the Campement Yaala over the dam, which also has decent enough accomodation (but is further from the lake and a bit more basic).

The rooms themselves – like so many other tourist resorts in Africa – are made to resemble round huts with straw roofs. Nice and big though, with ensuite loo and shower! There is also air-con if you need it. They have one double bed in, but you can pay a little extra for them to add an extra single. We then take along two camp beds for the rest of our kids and there’s enough space to fit them all into the one hut! Have a butcher’s:

Here’s an arial view of the Hotel Woloni – you can see the restaurant by the lake near the bottom of the picture and the pool near the top:


View Larger Map

And here’s a wider view showing the Selingue dam (the hotel is in the bottom left corner):


View Larger Map

Finally, click here for another anglophone report on the place (short but sweet) and then here and here for a couple of opinions in French.

Now, go and enjoy a relaxing sunset like this one!



Nov
22
Filed Under (Random Photo of the Week) by Rob on 22-11-2011

A boat beside the Bani River at Teriya Bugu

I’ve only been to Teriya Bugu once, and that was on my way home from this workshop earlier in the year. It has lovely rooms, a nice pool and restaurant and is in a tranquil (if a tad remote) location on by the river. Click here to see the Teriya Bugu website.



Nov
16
Filed Under (Random Photo of the Week) by Rob on 16-11-2011

Citroën 2CVs and Dianes at the Marina Hotel, Cotonou


(Click to enlarge)

The amazing thing is that these ugly ducklings, along with a couple of dozen others, all made the journey by road from Brussels all the way to Cotonou! Click here and here to see previous blog posts (a year apart) of the ‘Touareg Trail’. Also, click on the photo below to go to my ‘2CV Touareg Trail’ photo album:

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Thanks for reading!



Nov
12
Filed Under (Things to do in Bamako) by Rob on 12-11-2011

Go for another walk (or bike ride) along the canal!

Remember this post, showing one canal walk? Well here’s the second one, which can nicely lead from/into the first walk. Start from the Third Bridge and head roughly eastwards along the canal from there. Here’s what the path looks like:

As a new road has recently been made to get to the new Chinese Hospital, it’s best to take the left bank, which will be quieter. Views along the canal are very nice indeed and it’s a relaxing walk/ride:

The first small bridge back over the canal is a couple of kilometres down, then I believe you can cross over and return on the other side. As well as relaxing views of the canal, there are also points where you can get to the Niger River and admire the view there too.

Here’s the canal on Tim’s Bamako Map – the canal is the narrow darker bit below the wider one (which is part of the Niger River). The start of the walk can be seen near the bottom left corner of the picture and the first bridge can be seen near the top right corner. The blue line is the start of the third bridge and the tarmac road half way along (below the canal) is the road to the Chinese Hospital.


View Tim’s Bamako map in a larger map

So now you know! Happy strolling!



Nov
10
Filed Under (Random Photo of the Week) by Rob on 10-11-2011

Piece of fruit anyone?

Oranges, mangos, papayas, bananas – even grapes or apples (these two imported of course!) You see colourful stalls like this in various parts of Bamako. Yum yum!