netllama

I've recently returned from spending three weeks travelling around west Africa. Specifically, Mali, Burina Faso, Togo & Benin. While this wasn't my first time in the region, all four of those nations were my first visit. Its a fascinating region that is difficult to summarize. It encompasses the southern edges of the Sahara, all the way south to the wet, tropical Atlantic coast, spanning multiple dominant religions, languages, cultures, and ecosystems.

Due to the pandemic, its not currently possible to travel overland between these nations (however, it used to be). As a result, we had to fly between each country, in what were basically ~hour long hops. Additionally, the north east portions of Mali and Burkina have been fighting extremists for years, and are effectively unsafe for outsiders (people have been kidnapped), so we couldn't explore those areas at all. Despite that, we visited a large chunk of these countries, and had an amazing experience.

Since this is FT, I'll provide some details on the flights. Despite the cutesy thread title, we actually needed more than just 3 flights on this trip (all of which were in economy). The 3 flights referred to the flights between each of the 4 countries. However, as we live in the US, to get to/from Africa, we needed more flights. In the before times, we could have potentially flown AirFrance non-stop out of SFO via CDG to Africa. However, due to pandemic related flight schedule changes, the schedule didn't work, without a code share for the outbound. As I strongly prefer to avoid most US domestic carriers as much as possible, we looked for an alternative. We decided to spend a week in NYC before Africa, so getting there was on Alaska, as I had enough miles to cover the full cost of the flight for both myself and my partner. Then we flew Air France out of JFK, via CDG into Bamako (BKO) Mali. It was fine, and a very average European carrier, economy experience. The flight from CDG to BKO was nearly an hour late due to absolute boarding time chaos. Despite being over a year into the pandemic, most airports still don't seem to have figured out how to integrate PCR test checks into their operations without negatively impacting the boarding process. The gate agents in CDG didn't seem to have any plan, and fumbled their way through reviewing PCR tests, passports, visas & boarding passes during the boarding process.

Flying to and from Burkina Faso was on their national carrier, Burkina Air. Despite being one of those sorta scary regional airlines that is basically unknown, it was a perfectly decent experience. They use Embraer E-170 for their entire (tiny) fleet. They had drink service (on flights that were just barely over 1 hour), the crew spoke decent enough English (for a carrier that flies almost entirely to French speaking countries). Sadly, the airport in Burkina's capital (Ouagadougou) is a literal and figurative mess, with a total of two gates, both of which are bus gates. Also their security attempted to confiscate the electric shaver in my carryon for "reasons" (which they could not communicate in English). But they didn't have sufficient staff or busses to actually manage two flights simultaneously. As a result, our departing flight to Lome, Togo was nearly an hour late as the ground staff struggled to get another flight out the door.

The flight from Lome, Togo to Cotonou, Benin was on ASKY. Despite Lome being their only hub, the brand new terminal did not have sufficient jetways for their daily flight load, and as a result, we ended up on yet another bus gate. Their entire fleet is 737's (700 & 800 models). This flight was not at all enjoyable. Despite boarding on time, we sat on the tarmac past the departure time for another 45 minutes with no announcement or explanation. Also, they had the AC on the plane set to some insanely high temperature (everyone was sweating) until about 10 minutes before the flight landed. To make it even more fun, the pilot seemingly screwed up the approach/landing and had to resort to a "go around" to correct. As a result, we ended up arriving in Cotonou nearly 2 hours late for a ground distance of barely 170km (108 miles). Had the land border been open to foreigners, we could have literally driven the distance in far less time than we spent waiting in the airport & on the plane.

The flight home, from Cotonou, Benin was also on Air France, via CDG to SFO. Both flights were on time, and was again a very average European carrier experience.

Also, the reference to 5 tests are the required COVID19 PCR tests that we needed to come back negative to make this trip possible. One test to enter Mali, another to enter Burkina Faso, another to enter Togo, another to enter Benin, and the last to re-enter the US. Pricing for the tests was all over the place, with the most expensive being in Benin (US$140/person to ensure results within 24 hours), and least expensive in Mali & Burkina (about US$45/person). Mali was super efficient, and we literally walked into the test center, got tested immediately, and had the results less than 12 hours later. Burkina had the most ridiculous, inefficient process I've ever seen, requiring 2 hours of waiting to get tested. Benin & Togo were very well organized, providing a web portal to access results (similar to Turkey for those who have been), and fairly efficient testing centers as well.

The rough itinerary for the trip was:

• Mali
  • Segou
    • Sekoro old village tour (this was the highlight of the region)
    • Niger river cruise
    • Calabash village
    • Mud cloth demo
    • Outdoor market tour
  • Bamako
    • Sand fishers
    • Point G
    • Market/bazaar tour
    • Railway station
    • National Museum
• Burkina Faso
  • Bobo
    • Lake Tengrala hippo cruise (viewing hippos, not riding them)
    • Fabedougou Domes
    • Karfiguela Waterfalls
    • Grand Mosque (oldest mosque in the country, spectacular
  • Bazoule Crocodiles
• Togo
  • Kpalime
    • Art market
    • Forest trek (amazing hike in the mountains above town, where cacoa, coffee, mangos, and lots more is growing wild)
  • Lome
    • Fetish market tour
    • Coast/beach
  • South east
    • House of Slaves (19th century slaver's house, used to imprison slaves before shipping out)
    • Aneho history museum (tiny museum with artifacts from Togo's colonial history)
  • Aveve
    • village tour (we saw people making baskets, pottery, millet beer for local markets)
• Benin
  • Ouidah
    • Road of Slaves (path to the coast that slaves walked before boarding ships)
    • Sacred Forest
    • Python Temple
  • Cotonou
    • Ganvie (entire village on stilts a lake)
    • Martyr monument
    • Dantokpa market tour
  • Porto Novo
    • Zangbeto monuments
    • Old mosque (built with plans for a church)
    • Botanical garden
    • Grand market
    • Mask museum
  • Pendjari National Park (safari)
  • Abomey
    • Royal Palace Museum (UNESCO site)

But enough of my rambling, you're likely here for the pix, right?


Bobo grand mosque as the storm approaches


birds hitching a ride [Pendjari]


sunset over Pendjari


the barn [Benin]


smuggler's route from Nigeria


crossing the Niger at rush hour [Bamako]



he waits for you [Pendjari]


hiding near the falls [Togo]


the road of slaves [Benin]


the Atlantic coast [Lome]


rural Burkina Faso near Côte d'Ivoire


fishing on the Niger [Mali]



UN Airways, flying to the world's hot spots [BKO]



the domes [Burkina]


Sand fishers on the Niger [Bamako]


the old mosque on the river [Segou]


smiling hippo [Burkina]


farm [Segou]


Bats at dusk [Segou]


Dantokpa market traffic [Cotonou]


they wait [Pendjari]


monkey [Pendjari]


its not paint [Togo]


the new mosque [Segou]






For those curious, I've posted a very detailed, day by day, trip report here.
And if you want to follow me on future trips, I'm 'netllama' on instagram too.

I'm happy to answer questions as well.
thanks!

zip10001

Very exotic TR! Looking forward to more segments...

GregWTravels

Loving seeing some exotic locations coming up in the trip report forums again. Thanks for posting the report.

netllama

Thanks!

Thank you!

offerendum

Indeed exotic and very interesting.

Pausanias

Thanks for this! I've been to a few of these places. I thought the fetish market in Lome was very disappointing, not nearly as 'exotic' or as disturbing as I'd hoped. Also, the amazing village on stilts, Ganvie, seemed to be quite hostile to visitors/tourists and I was glad to get away. Too bad the mud towns of Djenne and Timbuktu in Mali are currently off limits. Also Agadez in Niger . . .

netllama

The fetish market did feel a bit touristy, although we were the only tourists there at the time. I can't tell if that's a pandemic thing, or if its always that empty. We did see fetish stalls in other more generic markets elsewhere though.

I did not experience any hostility in Ganvie. However, I was disappointed that the only places we stopped to get off the boat were gift shops, and we never got to see anything else up close.

LondonElite

Wow, great pictures! Very interesting.

Pausanias

The hostility we experienced was on the tour boat - several local people said 'Go Away' to us, people turned their backs, especially the women. I did think that the only significant building was a huge mosque - everything else was built of the flimsiest of stuff - and that Ganvie could so easily become a breeding ground for radicalisation.

netllama

I wasn't on a tour boat. I had a private guide so it was a small vessel.

Not sure what you mean by "everything else was built of the flimsiest of stuff" as their construction methods are quite similar to what exists throughout much of west Africa. These people are extremely poor by western, developed nation standards. They can't afford to buy concrete or lumber, much less build "modern" standard dwellings.

I saw no signs of any "radicalisation". Some people don't like having outsiders gawk at them. If you had random tourists wandering past your home non-stop much of the time, you might not be too welcoming either.

offerendum

Now I´m nevertheless curious

stevebintley

Brilliant report, and I've just finished reading the detailed one on your website too. I'm really intrigued by this part of the world and would love to do a similar exploration myself - I think I'll be stealing some inspiration!

Looking forward to reading through the other articles on your website now...

netllama

Thanks!

CHSDOC

What tour agency did you use to put this together?

netllama

Mali - Burkina Faso - Togo - Benin - Guinea - Sierra Leone travel agency | Papillon Reizen