Well-that was a LONG bus journey to Djenne! We got to the bus station before 7am and had a quick omelet sandwich and then began the fight to get our stuff and ourselves on the bus. There is no orderly English queuing system here!! But we managed to push our stuff on the bus and then while Geoff and Eti watched to make sure no one removed our bags - I pushed myself onto the bus to get us seats. I don't know why everyone feels the need to push and shove and fight though?!? We all thought it was because there wouldn't be enough seats for everyone but once everyone finally got settled there were enough seats and we were all sitting next to the people we were travelling with. I guess the pushing and shoving adds to the excitement?!?
So anyways - the bus left at 8am and then we just drove and drove and drove. It was funny because every time we stopped a bunch of people would jump on the bus selling stuff!! Like food and water. And then the bus would slowly start moving and they would jump off. Oh-and they also had a TV on the bus. OMG - they played this video of people singing. It lasted at least 4 hours and the singing was basically women screaming and shouting into a microphone. It was like the stereotypical black southern church singing with lots of clapping and stomping except they weren't singing hymns! And the volume was on super super loud!! It was rough!! And finally when that ended they put on a "Comedy" show. It was in French and again their comedy seems to mostly be women shouting at eachother and at their men. Ahhhh!!!! The girl next to me kept laughing - so she must've thought it was funny but I was wishing my ear plugs were handy. But the bus finally pulled up at our stop around 4:30 I think. Luckily I spent most of the time on the bus sleeping but - damn that's a long day on a crowded African bus with no aircon! So anyways - the bus dropped us at a junction where we had to pick up a local "bus" into Djenne. The bus dropped us off on one side of the police check point and we had to walk across and then they stopped to unload our bags on the otherside. The police watched the whole time this happened. Then we took like 10 minutes to sort ourselves out with the local bus and get ourselves and our bags on there and then when everyone was ready to go - the police came over and told us we had to register! Wtf?!? So we unloaded our bags and hauled them to the police post.
They signed us in the register and when it was my turn the police officer took a fancy to my sunglasses. So I handed them to him and he put them on. Ok - I have fake Chanel sunglasses - I think they are pretty cool, but they are def. womens sunglasses and they looked kinda stupid on him. So both Geoff and I told him they weren't a good look. And I said I needed them back so I could see. LOL - he gave me his super shitty ones. Blah - I handed them back and gave him my sad face. Eventually he gave my sunglasses back - but how cheeky!! And even though they are just cheap sunglasses...I left my other paid on the truck and it would suck to spend the next week with no sunglasses! Especially during a 3 day trek!!! Its bad enough I forgot my deoderant and since its not very common here I'm going to be super smelly during this side-trip....but to not be able to see would have made it even worse :P
We took a local bus from the junction into Djenne. This is like a minivan that they cram as many people as necessary onto. Luckily it wasn't that long of a journey. But we also needed to cross a river on a ferry. This involved us getting off of the bus so it could drive through the water to get onto the ferry and we had to wade through up to out knees and walk onto the ferry. LOL - but we made it and arrived in Djenne to meet our guide. He settled us into a cheap hotel (I have an ensuite shower and toilet!!) And then took us for dinner to a restaurant that serves beer (only one apparently as Djenne is a completely muslim city). We had a really lovely dinner - luckily they had 4 meals left, 2 fish and 2 chicken (oh, we met an American guy on the local bus to Djenne so he joined us for dinner). So I had chicken and whatever else they put with it along with some fries and some fried plantain (YUM)! And a big beer after a long day! Then, even though I slept almost all day on the bus, I was in bed asleep at like 9pm and slept right through until nearly 7:30 the next morning! Amazing!!
So anyways - the bus left at 8am and then we just drove and drove and drove. It was funny because every time we stopped a bunch of people would jump on the bus selling stuff!! Like food and water. And then the bus would slowly start moving and they would jump off. Oh-and they also had a TV on the bus. OMG - they played this video of people singing. It lasted at least 4 hours and the singing was basically women screaming and shouting into a microphone. It was like the stereotypical black southern church singing with lots of clapping and stomping except they weren't singing hymns! And the volume was on super super loud!! It was rough!! And finally when that ended they put on a "Comedy" show. It was in French and again their comedy seems to mostly be women shouting at eachother and at their men. Ahhhh!!!! The girl next to me kept laughing - so she must've thought it was funny but I was wishing my ear plugs were handy. But the bus finally pulled up at our stop around 4:30 I think. Luckily I spent most of the time on the bus sleeping but - damn that's a long day on a crowded African bus with no aircon! So anyways - the bus dropped us at a junction where we had to pick up a local "bus" into Djenne. The bus dropped us off on one side of the police check point and we had to walk across and then they stopped to unload our bags on the otherside. The police watched the whole time this happened. Then we took like 10 minutes to sort ourselves out with the local bus and get ourselves and our bags on there and then when everyone was ready to go - the police came over and told us we had to register! Wtf?!? So we unloaded our bags and hauled them to the police post.
They signed us in the register and when it was my turn the police officer took a fancy to my sunglasses. So I handed them to him and he put them on. Ok - I have fake Chanel sunglasses - I think they are pretty cool, but they are def. womens sunglasses and they looked kinda stupid on him. So both Geoff and I told him they weren't a good look. And I said I needed them back so I could see. LOL - he gave me his super shitty ones. Blah - I handed them back and gave him my sad face. Eventually he gave my sunglasses back - but how cheeky!! And even though they are just cheap sunglasses...I left my other paid on the truck and it would suck to spend the next week with no sunglasses! Especially during a 3 day trek!!! Its bad enough I forgot my deoderant and since its not very common here I'm going to be super smelly during this side-trip....but to not be able to see would have made it even worse :P
We took a local bus from the junction into Djenne. This is like a minivan that they cram as many people as necessary onto. Luckily it wasn't that long of a journey. But we also needed to cross a river on a ferry. This involved us getting off of the bus so it could drive through the water to get onto the ferry and we had to wade through up to out knees and walk onto the ferry. LOL - but we made it and arrived in Djenne to meet our guide. He settled us into a cheap hotel (I have an ensuite shower and toilet!!) And then took us for dinner to a restaurant that serves beer (only one apparently as Djenne is a completely muslim city). We had a really lovely dinner - luckily they had 4 meals left, 2 fish and 2 chicken (oh, we met an American guy on the local bus to Djenne so he joined us for dinner). So I had chicken and whatever else they put with it along with some fries and some fried plantain (YUM)! And a big beer after a long day! Then, even though I slept almost all day on the bus, I was in bed asleep at like 9pm and slept right through until nearly 7:30 the next morning! Amazing!!
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