The situation in Mali at the moment is very fluid but one thing is for certain; the grassroots artists that have made Malian music some of the most recognized world music on the planet are still out there making their unique sounds. These guys are from Niafounké and times are tough in Ali Farka’s hometown so with the help of Chris Kirkley from Sahel Sounds we would like to promote these up and coming future stars. If you click on the link below you can buy the album and 60% of the money goes directly to the lads from ‘Alkibar Gignor’.
The Sandmen of Mali
I have heard several times that Bamako is the world’s 6th fastest growing city. Concrete is the main part of most buildings in Bamako. As such, the city has an insatiable hunger for cement and sand. Even though the Sahara Desert swallows up half of the northern part of the country the sand from the Desert is too fine for use in constructing concrete buildings. The coarse sand dredged from the bottom of the Niger River is far better to make a strong, long-lasting concrete.
Even in this age of dredging machines and mechanical loaders the Sand Men of Mali are collecting the sand in a far more labour intensive way. I suppose you could say in a traditional way but the need for collecting sand further up river has only come into play in the last twenty years so although it seems like they may have done this for centuries it is only a recent development.
They have designed special boats that are far wider than the traditional Pinasse and then they tie 15 to 20 of them together and push them upriver to collect the sand. Only one boat has an engine. They place the powerful mother ship at the rear of the flotilla. It propels the fleet forward as well as functioning as the main point for steering.
Every boat has one guy who assists in steering by pushing away from obstacles with a long Bamboo pole. When the boats arrive in the designated area it is these guys responsibility to fill their own boat with sand before they all get tied back together and return home. Every afternoon at about 4pm the group assembles at the port at Kalaban Koro and push the boats out into the river with their long bamboo poles to meet up with the mother ship. They then quickly tie the boats together before beginning the 60km punt up river. They arrive at the Sand Bank at about 10 pm and then it is time to jump into the water and start filling the boats. On arrival the pilot of the mother ship starts yelling for everyone to wake up, get in the water and get to work. The guys then stand in the chest deep water and completely submerge themselves every ten seconds or so for the next 3 hours. With their only tool being a bucket they painstakingly collect their quota of sand. They work without lights and all around you can hear the sound of the guys as they duck under the water to collect a bucket full of sand before announcing their arrival back above the surface of the water with a loud exhalation of breath.
The boats arrive back in the port at about 8 in the morning and then there is another team of guys waiting there who unload the boats and then transfer the sand to the waiting trucks which quickly race off and deliver it all over Bamako.
There is a heap of shows on TV that love to show the viewers the worlds worst, hardest, most dangerous and dirtiest jobs and no doubt this could probably get a run on most of them but these guys are tough and they go about their work quietly. They earn $10.00 a day and work 6 days a week with Friday traditionally being the day when the Sandmen of Mali can have a well-earned break.
Train from Bamako to Dakar.
First and foremost; the dream is dead. Although this train journey was perhaps one of the toughest train rides on the planet, intrepid travellers loved to test themselves on this fabled journey. Sadly, since a large accident on the Kayes – Dakar section they have discontinued the passenger service between the two cities. However, for those that want to travel in Mali in a way more relaxed fashion than usual there is still a three times a week train service that connects Bamako to Kayes.
Every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday the train departs the station at 7.15am on route to Kayes.
Every Friday, Sunday and Wednesday the train makes the return journey from Kayes back to Bamako.
The train is a fantastic experience because you get to see life slowly pass you by as you trundle through western Mali but it is pointless asking anyone what time the train will arrive. At a guess you can expect to arrive at around 10 at night, give or take several hours. The standard response when asking the timetable is a laugh and something along the lines of ‘the train does not respect the clock’. The ticket will cost you 7 000 CFA and honestly it is a slow and drawn out journey but the seats are comfortable and the windows actually close so you are secure.
In a sense it’s like a step back in time where the visiting trains provides an increase in the pulse of otherwise quiet villages. These villages also use the train as a primary source of business and for supplies due to a lack of decent access roads in this part of Mali.
Categories: Mali tips, Tours in Mali, Tours in West Africa
Tags: bamako, dakar, kayes, train
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The 10 Step Plan to Finding a Good Guide in Mali
The majority of independent traveller’s that pass through the Sleeping Camel have had a positive experience in Mali. Sadly sometimes, this is not the case. We had a couple of guys pass through here this week and they were taken advantage of by an unscrupulous ‘faux’ guide and this has prompted me to write a few words on the matter. If you are an independent traveller and want to sort things on your own then the following hints may help you. One thing to be aware of is even though it is not policed very well, it is actually against the law for guides to offer their services to you unless they are working through a registered Malian travel company. If a guide does something incorrect or cheats you then it is very difficult to track him down and bring him to justice. The tourism board states you must travel with a registered company as they will have an office and they can be contacted easily to resolve any issues that may occur.
1. Sounds stupid but make sure your guide is actually Malian.
2. Ensure he has an identity card from OMATHO (Office Malien du Tourisme et de l’Hôtellerie) that states he is a registered guide for the regions you are looking to travel in. Get a photocopy of both his guiding license and his National Identity card.
3. Make a written contract signed by both of you and make sure you keep hold of a copy. This is extremely important and all guides, both good and bad, understand the process of making a contract prior to travelling. The contract should be as detailed as possible and then there can be no disagreements further down the line. For example – if you agree that you will be staying in AC rooms with private bathrooms for the duration of the journey then this should be in your contract. If you are supposed to have private transport and they stick you on a public bus then they have breached their commitment to you. If your guide gets annoyed that you are being to pedantic in regards to the contract then get another guide. Good guides want to protect themselves as much as provide you with a quality service so there is no such thing as too much information on a contract.
4. Be wary of the guides hanging around the airport. The good ones don’t tend to solicit business here.
5. Do not pay everything up front. Pay the tour in instalments and have this written into the contract.
6. If you make a contract with someone, make sure he is actually going to be your guide on the tour. Unless the person owns a tour company then he should not be selling you a tour and then getting someone else to guide you. Tour companies have offices and an office is a building, not a bag slung over someone’s shoulder.
7. Take the time to go to the closest OMATHO office and get your guides credentials checked out and the contract stamped. If your guide doesn’t want to do this then don’t use him. OMATHO tends to know the guys with a reputation for being dishonest so they won’t want to step anywhere near the OMATHO offices.
8. Tour companies have offices, staff, liability insurance and advertising budgets so a lot is tied up in making your tour a good experience and if it is bad then they are fairly easy to find. If you find a guide on the street then he can disappear into the dark with your money and you will never find him. You need to cover yourself and hopefully following these steps will help you have a better experience.
9. If you have taken all these steps and things still go wrong then go straight to OMATHO and they will help you resolve the situation.
10. All of this may seem a bit OTT but have faith in the fact that a good and honest guide might be amused by your caution but he will also be more than happy to furnish you with the information you require. There are a lot of good guides out there who want you to enjoy seeing their home country so the bad ones need to be dealt with or ignored so that Mali’s reputation as a tourist destination can continue to be enhanced.
Two Dogon’s, an Aussie and Habib Koité go dancing, and I forgot my camera.
One thing you should never underestimate in Mali is the opportunity to witness an amazing night of music. Luckily for a few of us from The Sleeping Camel, on Friday night we were treated to a spectacular show and the only cost to us was the taxi fare there and back and I bought a new shirt for the occasion. A mate of the Camel’s is a cultural director for UNESCO in West Africa and through him we scored three free tickets to an invite only show for 75 people at Moffou, Salif Keita’s live music venue in Kalaban Coro. Assigue, Abdou and I set off without really knowing what we were getting ourselves into. On arrival we were greeted at the gate by a friend from the Malian police force who informed us that Salif Keita was going to play. He was, I soon discovered, delightfully misinformed and apart from a huge poster of Salif staring down at us from behind the stage, he was never sighted. The evening was a promotional night for the Festival in the Desert and was staged for an advocacy group from Bono’s One International charity and the line-up for the evening was kept secret. The One International group are in West Africa to look at projects and will eventually return to the states and lobby for improved trade conditions and a reduction in duty charges for locally manufactured items like Shea products and traditional crafts such as Bogolan.
The first act was a traditional Tuareg group from Timbuktu who succeeded in getting the crowd nicely warmed up. After a short break we then got to see Moumino Diakite. She is a female singer in the mould of Oumou Sangare and really let rip with some powerful numbers. She also had two incredibly energetic female dancers. Abdou decided he really liked the music so he moved closer to the stage. The fact that his movement coincided with the appearance of the dancers had me suspicious that it was perhaps a little more than the music that had grabbed the petit Dogon’s attention.
After the Malian Diva left the stage we were faced with a 15 minute break and I was beginning to become a little fatigued but as I was chatting to some friends a familiar face suddenly appeared on stage. The band had been preparing for several minutes and we had no idea who was up next so when Habib Koité strolled on stage we all knew the pace of the night was set to really ramp up. I wandered over to the bar to grab a drink before he started and Habib had the same idea so for about 10 minutes a group of 6 of us chatted with him about life in Mali and on the road performing. He really is one of the most accessible artists I have ever come across and whilst sharing a beer he actually seemed like he enjoyed just hanging out and chatting. After we shook hands and said our farewells he left for the stage and produced a dazzling performance. He was not playing with his usual band so he took the opportunity to mix things up a bit and played some really cool variations on his older music.
After Habib finished I went to the washroom and on the way back walked straight into a startled Tuareg guitarist. Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni from Tinariwen had flown down from Paris especially for the night and I had just nearly knocked him over. Tinariwen were supposed to appear but they were on tour in Europe and got delayed in Paris. Abdallah told the crowd they didn’t want to totally let people down so he had done everything in his power to get there. He performed a few stripped down songs with a bassist and a guy playing the calabash and even with just the three of them Abdallah and his wailing guitar managed to produce that unique Saharan sound that Tinariwen are famous for.
It had already been a great night and I was so happy we had managed to be involved but then Baba Salah and his band came on stage. Baba is not as well known as some Malian artists outside of Mali but in his home country he is a legend based on his incredible live performances. His guitar playing is like Hendrix and the energy from his band even managed to drag me onto the dance floor. He performed a duet with Habib Koité and all the while Abdallah was giving the crowd dancing lessons. I wish he had taught my Dogon companions a new move or two.
As the night drew to a close I was struck with three very important thoughts –
1. If a cultural director from UNESCO offers you tickets to something then you sure as hell better go.
2. Always carry a camera. It’s not every day you get to dance with Habib Koite and a member of Tinariwen whilst listening to Baba Salah.
3. Contrary to local legends, not all Dogon’s can dance!
Categories: Live Music, Mali Music
Tags: Baba Salah, Festival in The Desert, Habib Koite, live music in bamako, live music in mali, Mali music, Moffou
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Festival in the Desert
This year The Surfing Camel will be taking two tours to the Festival in the Desert near Timbuktu. The Bus Run and The Festival in the Desert. These photo’s are from last years tour.
Buying Music in Mali
Apart from leading the way in putting Malian music on the world music map, Ali Farka Touré also put his name to an incredibly important foundation that assures Malian musicians receive payment for their music. Fondation Ali Farka Touré (FAFT) has ensured that only a tiny proportion of music sold on the streets in Mali is pirated and Mali K7 is a great place to start if you want to not only get great bargains on Malian music, but also know that the artists are receiving their commissions as well. The digital sale of music has still got a way to go before taking a hold in Mali so authentic music CD’s and cassettes are still a great souvenir of your time in Mali. When buying these products you need to ensure that they have holographic stickers representing the foundation. Mali K7 has a nice selection of Music with CD’s costing 1600 CFA so it’s well worth the effort to get here and have a look.
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Live Music at Djembé.
If you are lucky enough to be in Bamako over any weekend then it is very easy to find live music. If however you find yourself here during the week and you need to get your fix of live music then one excellent place to go is Djembé club in Lafiabougou. It is easy to get to as long as you can find a taxi man that knows the place and if not then the map below will help you. It is about a 10 minute drive from The Sleeping Camel and there is a lot of taxis hanging around outside to take you home afterwards. Expect to pay 1500 CFA in a taxi from The Sleeping Camel to Djembé. Although it is known as Djembé the sign out the front actually says Dunomba. There is live music every night of the week and the resident band is a free flowing entity with people coming and going at will and local’s from the crowd getting up and singing. It’s sort of like Bamako’s own unique version of Karaoke (except the singers here have talent). If you play an instrument then the band is only too happy for you come up on stage and have a jam with them. It might not have the polish of weekend performances at Diplomat, Savannah or Exodus but it more than makes up for it with great music, a chilled out atmosphere and cheap drinks.
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Carrying ID in Mali
It is absolutely essential that you carry identity on you at all times when moving around in Bamako, especially so at night. It has become clear that even driving licenses are not enough at night and people are often asked by the police for their passport. Not many people are that keen to be wandering around anywhere in the world at night with a passport on their person, especially if you are going to a nightclub or intending to spend the night dancing away to some local music at an open air club. One useful alternative is to get a legalised copy of your passport and visa page done at any local police station in Bamako. All you need to do is get a photocopy of your passport and take it, along with your passport, to a police station and they will stamp it and sign it (this should cost you no more than 1000 CFA). You will then be free to wander at night without the fear of finding trouble with the police or the even bigger nightmare of losing your passport.
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