Full Day in Bamako - Buying Air Tickets & Visiting the Malian Capital

Extremely hot weather though of the dry heat version. Probably above 40'C. It's Sahara after all.

Very efficient day. Bought 3 air tickets – Bamako to Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) for tonight; Lome (Togo) to Bamako for 7 March; and Bamako to Timbuktu on 8 March; plus on wait list for Ouagadougou to Niamey (Niger) for 1 March.

Also walked around Bamako today. Definitely more tourists than most of the countries we have visited so far. With more tourists, not even are the hotels here cheaper, they are also of better quality. We had lunch at a Chinese restaurant – our first in this African trip – excellent! These Chinese are from Zhengzhou, Henan Province. In Bamako, people thought that I am Japanese as there are definitely more Japanese tourists here than Mainland Chinese traders.

The National Museum is also the best we have seen so far in West Africa. Good presentation on the diverse cultures and civilizations of Mali, in particular, the Dogon people.

In a few hours time, we will fly to Burkina Faso. I will be back in Mali on 7 March, after doing through a swing-around Burkina Faso, Niger, Benin and Togo. Can't wait to do Timbuktu, Djenne and the Dogon Country.