Mopti

One fabulous sleep later, we awoke to find ourselves in the old market town of Mopti. It was here that I got a taste of what was to come. The old city was something completely different from anything I had ever seen before: Walking through this district was like walking hundreds of years into the past. The buildings were made of mud and constructed close together, with small empty backstreets. If it weren’t for the odd store sign or power lines running from rooftop to rooftop, I’d have been tempted to ask the locals what year it was! There was a rather large mosque, constructed entirely of mud brick and logs jutting out of the walls, in the traditional Sudanic style. Who would have thought one could make such beautiful buildings out of mud?

We went to the port (hey sailor!) to find a boat to ride up the Niger River to Timbuktu. Magically, the wizard returned and was waiting for us there! He actually was very helpful with helping us book space on the boat and never once asked us for money. We reserved four spaces on the pinasse (cargo boat) that was to leave tomorrow, plus straw mats, water and food (veggie for Joe and myself). It was a bit pricey, but we were excited. The voyage was scheduled to take three days and two nights.

The rest of the day was spent wandering around, exploring the town, fending off leetches (one who sat around with us uninvited at lunch AND dinner and then got angry when we wouldn’t buy weed from him) and making some essential purchases: namely a Taureg-style scarf for myself and a large, warm, hand-woven blanket for keeping warm on the cold desert nights. We were all set to go…