Fish and rice with some white wine for lunch somewhere over Central Africa.


High above Ghana as we get closer to our destination.


And arriving at Bamako's Modibo Keita International Airport.


Upon deplaning I made my way to immigration. A security officer was checking through everyone's passports at the front of the queue. I'm not sure if it was because of my more exotic passport stamps (Iraq, Libya, Pakistan etc.) but I was handed over to another security officer and told to meet him again after collecting my luggage.

Despite being for flagged for some reason I was quickly stamped into my 133rd country visited.


At the luggage belt I met up with Piotr, the trip organizer. Unfortunately I was the only one of the group that was flagged for further checks so everyone would have to wait for me until I was interrogated.

After grabbing my bag I was directed to the security office. Luckily the security officer was quite friendly and quickly ascertained I was just a simple tourist and not some French mercenary. I had to completely empty my bags and I was a little nervous about him discovering my drone but luckily he thought the remote was a game controller and didn't venture further to see the actual quadcopter.

He did ask me if I had a 'gift' for him but I just feigned ignorance and said I could only offer him some of my protein bars which he quickly declined.

After getting some West African francs from the airport ATM, I finally met up with the rest of the guys and then followed our local guide, Ibrahim, to the waiting van for the ride into the city.


Outside Hotel Les Colibris for our one night stay in the capital.


The modest but comfortable lodgings and importantly cool airconditioning.


We were pretty exhausted after the jetlag and long travel day so dinner was just at the hotel restaurant. I wasn't too hungry so just opted for a coke and some fries. It was also a good chance to chat with the rest of the group, with people from a range of countries including Poland, Spain, Pakistan, Germany, Italy and as well as myself from New Zealand.


I then crashed into bed early at 8pm (and midnight Dubai time) to rest up for the drive to Ségou tomorrow.