Timbuktu to Gao, Mali 9 Oct 07

A dusty desert outpost by the Niger

Credit cards are not welcome in Timbuktu so we needed to change some euros to pay our bills before leaving. There was a long queue outside the bank so our guide Kalilou took Flemming to a money changer who surprisingly didn’t want to change anything smaller than a 50 euros note. (Usually it’s the large notes that are a problem.) All this meant that, in spite of rising early, we didn’t get in the air until 09:50 and we had to fly at 5500 feet to avoid the worst of the heat. Higher up the easterly headwinds were much stronger.
I had tried unsuccessfully to call a taxi number for Gao the day before over the iridium phone, so was surprised to find a beautiful new air conditioned Toyota airport van ‘Aéroports de Mali’ waiting for us on arrival. Due to the oppressive heat, there are absolutely no tourists in Gao at this time of year, so we had the airport coordinator, driver and van at our disposal for the rest of the day.
The outskirts of Gao were a depressing sight. I was already looking forward to departing the next day as we drove through dusty streets covered in plastic litter. Both the Lonely Planet guide and Abdullaye had recommended the Hotel ‘Bel Air’ annex as the best bet, but the airport coordinator said the ‘Bon Séjour’ had been renovated just 6 months ago, so we stopped to check out the rooms there. The rubbish strewn yard wasn’t exactly encouraging and the room and bathroom (with broken loo seat) were just as depressing. The ‘renovation’ must have been a figment of the airport coordinator’s imagination.
We moved on to the ‘Bel Air’ annex. The bedroom had a flickering neon light, there was only one sheet on the bed, no loo paper and there was only a feeble trickle of water coming out of the tap. Still, they fixed most of these things apart from the water, which completely dried up in the afternoon (the taps sucks in air if you open them!), and the bathroom neon light started flickering too when it was too late to call anyone! Surprisingly, though, the air conditioning was new and quiet and the water pressure came back during the night.

For now, we just dumped our bags in the room and got back in the bus for the ride into town. Like Timbuktu, Gao has hardly heard of such a thing as a credit card and there were no ATMs. Fortunately, there was no queue at the spanking new bank but it still took an age to change money as they put all the 5 euro notes through a scanner.