Mali. Part III. Sévaré, Mopti, Djénné, BamakoMap
May It’s mango season in Mali.  SévaréMapCaution, children.  A public sculpture.  MoptiMap
The Niger River flows through here.  People was their cars right here, too.  And paint their boats.  The river harbor is located here as well, naturally.  And boat parts are also manufactured here. For example, steering wheels made from bicycle gears and rebar.  A public trash can.  A public beach.  The waterfront.  A mosque.  A seasonal workers’ camp.  A resident of the suburbs.  A car transporting dried cow hides.  A transformer vault that’s exactly like the ones in Madagascar.  A hair salon.  DjénnéMap
The city is known for its enormous mud brick mosque, and it used to attract scores of visitors.  But now, due to a complete lack of tourists, it has fallen into a slumber.  The streets are deserted.  Children play on the empty roads.  The locals have nothing to do.  Movers sit idly on their carts with distinctive cross-shaped handles.  A trash can.  Street name signs.  Timid graffiti graces the city’s walls.  A view of the surrounding countryside.  BamakoMap
A fire hydrant.  Payphones.  A driving school.  Bamako traffic lights are painted white and operate on solar power.  All of the city’s fixed-route taxis consist of repurposed cargo vans (because cargo vehicles are cheaper than passenger ones). A hole is cut in their side and some kind of window put in. Or not—sometimes there’s just a curtain attached on the outside in case of rain.  Inside, the vans are equipped with ordinary wood benches instead of seats. 
The shakedown that awaits travelers upon departure at the airport is as ritualized and interminable as a Dogon greeting. After all the security checks and  This is the last airplane out of the country. All the airlines have cancelled their flights for the next few days. |
