26th Feb 08

Date: 26th Feb 08
Location: Kita, Mali
Weather: Hazy blue skies and so much sunshine, 49°c!!!!!!!!!!
Status: All good except the Coloel who needs a new part J

Hell and heaven….the only way to describe the difference between yesterdays road and today’s. We left Kita and pulled straight onto a perfect new tarmac road which ran all the way to the capital, Bamako and how the spirits lifted! We put the cd on, kicked back and took in the scenery as the temperature rose and rose.

The suspension on the colonel was really a concern on the way in, as I braked there was definite pull to one side and getting to a safe place to park up became paramount in my mind but after 120kms we finally pulled into the outskirts of the city, Luke’s now highly improved navigation skills took us directly into the centre and before too long we found our destination…a catholic mission in the centre of all the typical African city madness!

We arrived and found the doors were always closed between 13:00 and 16:00hrs so we had to sit and wait in the street outside, baking in the hottest temps yet which touched nearly 50°c with constant street sellers and annoyances at the window. When we finally got in, it was another oasis in a mental city with a secure courtyard which we could set the tent up in for the night.

Its run a by a group of sisters and has a WIDE array of people staying here for next to nothing, a superb American man whose travelled extensively over the last few years….watching people, a brilliant man from Hong Kong who doesn’t say much but doesn’t need to as he’s great company and a car load of French sandal wearers on “a mission”…..oooooo.

So we settled in and went out for dinner with the two guys and both have asked me separately if they could join me for the journey to Cape Town, should Owen not make it! It’ll take a bit more than a night out to trust someone with the Colonel as I run in front, there’s only so fast I can go!

Then Luke headed out for the night of Malian music with a new friend, Charlie. I wrote the address of the mission on his arm….just in case, I know Luke J wrote this and went to bed.

End of day location: Bamako, Mali
Distance covered: 180kms