Agadir to Bamako, and on to Mopti, Mali 4 - 5 Oct 07

Fast camel across the Sahara

We got up at 5 am and I (Flemming) managed to download the TAFS (forecasts), winds aloft at FL100 as well as a SIGWX (significant weather) chart for Africa from WxSupport using a GPRS mobile phone internet connection. It was clear that we would have a southwesterly headwind of about 25 – 30 knots on the first half of the trip until Zoueratt in Mauritania and somewhat less after that, so our nominal 8 hour flight was more likely becoming a 9 hour flight.
The Bamako forecast looked good with no afternoon thunderstorms forecast. The ITCZ (Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone) was depicted with an unfortunate undulation to the north just around Bamako, which meant that we would have to cross it near the Mauritania-Mali border. It was however not shown to be very active. Reality turned out to be quite different.
Our driver Abdul was at the hotel before sunrise at 6 am. Although we had agreed on 400 dirhams, and he got 40 Euros or 430 dirhams, he still asked for more when we arrived at the airport. I then told him that local taxis from Souss Massa were happy to do the trip for 300 dirhams and he finally shut up!
Departure formalities went smoothly except for the long walk to the aéroclub parking to pick up the plane, so we were airborne at 08:30.
Initially we maintained FL80 to reduce the headwind a bit. Soon after the border between Spanish Sahara and Mauritania we went up to FL100 to stay out of the worst of the Sahara dust haze which blurred the horizon so that we could only see the ground directly beneath us.
Most of the way we were in Mauritanian airspace and communications and position reporting with Nouakchott went smoothly, using VHF for the first third and HF for the rest.
About 150 NM north of the Mauritania-Mali border, the stormscope came alive and we could see the ugly tops of the ITCZ thunderstorms. As we got closer, it became a wall of thunderstorms which looked very active both visually and on the stormscope. After numerous zigzags during half an hour and a few minutes in heavy rain and a strong updraft we were finally through the ITCZ. Further along near Bamako there were isolated storms, but they were easy to avoid.
After the stress of the ITCZ and 9 hours in the air, Angela was very happy to be on the ground. We refueled soon after landing, and entry formalities went smoothly. Our taxi driver was friendly, and was helpful in trying to locate an ATM that would provide us with some much needed CFA’s. It worked after the third attempt, and after almost an hour we arrived at Hotel Tamana. After a beer and a pizza, we went to bed dead tired. Although it had fast internet via WiFi (which worked intermittently), it was more like a two star hotel than a three star and didn’t deserve the excellent write-up our Lonely Planet guidebook had given it.