Mali Travel Forum

Sorry. I pushed send without finish:
Segou - Hotel Djoliba
Mopti - Hotel pas de probleme
Tomboctou - Hote Colombe
Bandiagara - Hotel de la Falaise
Ouaga - Hotel Central
Gaoua - Hotel Allah
Banfora - Hotel Allah
Bobo Hotel Relax
Segou - Hotel Relax
Have somebody stayed recently in the listed hotels? - Any special recommendations of things to do or not to do and safe restaurants?
Many tks in advance travellers.
Enjoy yr trips around the world.
Guillem Mas

Hi,
I stayed at the hotel Djoliba in Segou in November last year.Very clean, nice sized rooms } a decent breakfast. The hotel Auberge is also highly recommended and slightly cheaper. I never stayed at the y' a pas de probleme in Mopti but I've had mixed reports, some saying it's good, others that it doubles as a bordello!!!! Otherwise never stayed in any of the others. My best of :

Banfora - Hotel Comoé, lovely patio and clean.
Gaoua - The hotel Allah is the only place in town and they take advantage of this. I stayed at the Ex-Canadian Aid place. Cheap beer and quiet, but Gaoua is a not too nice a place, does not cater for travellers at all. Best thing about Gaoua is the museum, say hallo to Marie-Claire the curator for me, and also has a decent resto in the grounds for lunch.
Ouaga - Pension Sarah, close to the airport, quite clean with decent food.
Bobo - I stayed at "Les Cocotiers" but do not recommend it.

Hope some of this helps

Many tks for yr reply. Of cpourse we will say hello to Mari-Claire.
We will leave next wednesday, the 3th of Sept.
Pls If you think that something more it's interesting to know for us advise.

Rgds,
Guillem.

Hi,

Glad to help. If you have time in Segou (half day) a good visit is to cross the Niger and visit Kalabougou. This is the place where they make most of the pottery you see stacked up in Segou. You can do this by going down to the main jetty where there is a small yellow cabin. The owner, Far, is part of the local pirogue association, speaks good french and will take you over for about 20.000 cfa. That price is the same whether you are 1 or 15. Good half-day calm on the river. Segou is also, IMHO, the best place on the Niger for sunset photos. Go also to the main jetty at around 17.30. Have a look my pages for other tips on Mali and Burkina Faso.

Have a good trip.

Hi again,
whilst in Gaoua, ask Marie-Claire if it is market day in Doudou. If it is, there is a part of the market that caters only for gold. Around Doudou it is only the women that have the right to dig for the gold and it is very colourful to see them bartering at the market. Be careful in using your camera though. The buyers don't appreciate you taking photos that much.

Tks again for yr reply.
One more think: What about exchange money? It's better exchange in Bamako?
It's easy to obtain exchange rate money in other places?
Do you thing it's possible obtain some SEK in Europe before leave-

Rgds,
Guillermo.

Hi Guillermo.
Normally you can't get CFA outside of West Africa unless you know an African that goes back and forth. In Mali and B.F. the Euro equals 655 cfa. Some banks don't charge a commission, some do. You could show your negociating skills at the airport with the guys outside as you're going to need some CFA for the taxi. If you do this check the money they give you back and don't let too many of these boys stand near you whilst negociating.You should be able to get 640 or 650 from them. A taxi into town will be about 6/7000 cfa.

Good luck

Tks again. All this info will be very usefull for me.
I'll contact you after come back from mali.
Of course, if you need something from myself do not hesitate to contact me.
Best regards,
Guillem