Learn some words Bambara and other Mali General Tips

Favorite Thing: In Mali it's easy , if you can speak French.
But if you travel around or visit small villages, it makes more fun to learn some Bambara words:

Hallo -I ni tjee.
Answer: M baa, i ni tjee (man), M see, i nitjee (woman)

Good morning - I ni sohgohma
Answer: M baa or M see, I ni soghoma

Good afternoon ( 12-16 hour) -I ni tillee
Answer: Mbaa or M see, I ni tillee

Good afternoon (16-19 hours) -I ni woellah
Answer: Mbaa or M see, I ni woellah

Good evening - I ni soe
Answer: M baa or M see, I ni soe

Goodbye - Kan boe foo (if you stay yourself)
Answer: Oe naa mehn.

Thank you - I ni tjee

Ja/ nee - ohwoh/ aj

What's your name? - I tohkow

Today/ yesterday/tomorrow - bi/koenoen/sini

Where is... ? - ... beh mi?
House/hotel - soo/ otelli
Postoffice/ busstation - Biro de post/ bus gari

Bread - boeroe
Drinking water- mieniedji

(words are phonetic (in dutch), not in the official orthography)


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Favorite Thing: A t the local markets, of course you can speak French, but it's nice to know the numbers in Bambara and who knows ... maybe it gives you some advantage, when you are shopping.

1 kilin
2 fila
3 saba
4 naani
5 doeroe
6 wohroo
7 wohroon wilah
8 seeki
9 koonontoo
10 tan
20 moekan
30 bi saba
40 bi naani
100 kehmeh
1000 waa
en anni/ni

example:
1120 waa kilin ani kehmeh kilin ani mugan

( the numbers are phonetic in dutch)


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Favorite Thing: In 2004 we travelled from Senegal to Mali overland, taking the road from Tambacounda to Kayes. This is also the road when you travel from Dakar to Bamako.

In Kidira, the Senegalese bordertown, you have first to get a stamp at the policepost, before you can cross the borderriver. This police post is not at the border, but somewhere else in town. There are people around who can show you the way.

You don't need a visa for Mali in advance, but can buy it at the border. That means you get a stamp in your passport and have to register within 48 hours in Bamako, the capital.

First we had to pay 100 euro for each stamp. Finally we paid 25 euro. First they needed a ID-picture of all of us. When they ran out of forms, they gave some of the pictures back.

All together all the formalities at the Senegalese and Malinese side of the border took us almost 4 hours.


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Favorite Thing: The main road from the Senegalese border to Kayes is 105 KM. It is an unpaved road of red earth. This main road is part of the route from Dakar to Bamako. Many overlanders, who travel from Europe to Capetown , take this route.

There was enough traffic to colour our bodies and the inside of the car red of the dust, caused by all the dust clouds all the oncoming vehicles produced. It even didn't matter we closed the windows.

Fondest Memory: The landscape we passed was very scenic with many baobab trees. I never did see so many baobabs anywhere in Africa, not during all my trips in the African continent.

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Favorite Thing: From Kayes we had to go to Mauritania. We decided not to take the partly paved Nioro - Ayoun el Atrous route, but the tracks straight to the north in the direction of Kiffa.

Concerning the map we should pass Aourou in Mali and Kankossa in Mauritania for the border formalities.

It was a picturesque track, passing a wonderful landscape with baobab trees, dry riverbeds and lovely Malinese villages like Djeribou and Karakora. In the villages the friendly people showed us the next track in the direction of Kankossa and Kiffa.

At the end we realised, that the tracks we took leaded too much to the west. After people showed us a crossing point in a river, we arrived at the Mauritanian bordertown Ouid Yenjé.

At the police post in the village they said '' Welcome, you are in Mauritania, this is Ouid Yenjé''. Leaving Mali, we didn't see any Malinese police post or bordertown at all. After the Mauritanian stamps and formalities, we took the next track in the direction of Kankossa and Kiffa.


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