First, let me say that Mopti’s Ya Pas de Probleme Hotel is a great place where, only a little surprisingly, there really aren’t any problems without solutions. We had good food and comfortable lodging, and the price was not exorbitant. Perhaps the best impression was left when the French owner presented us two solutions to a problem created by his staff, namely: that we were booked into the dormitory at the same time a tour group was supposed to be monopolizing it. Without hesitation, he offered to split up that group or to give us another room at the same price. We took the latter option.
Second, I’d like to endorse Mopti as a tourist destination. The guidebooks malign it. Other PCVs had bad experiences there. But we liked it. (Only one instance of harassment, “Mali is better than Benin” from a punk teenager, even barely deserves mention.) Sure, there are plenty of guys there who want to take you for a ride – on their boat – or be your guide for the day, but they’re no more bothersome than the mosquitos in Burkina, really. And yes, there’s only enough to see to fill about 1/2 to 3/4 of the day, but that isn’t necessarily rare in West Africa, from what we’ve seen.
In the morning, we wandered around town, seeing the mosque and taking in the market-town atmosphere. We visited the boatworks, where we picked up a 10 year old guide, “Ali Farka Touré,” who led us to the older souvenir market. I say “older,” as there is also a new, well-funded, clean and sparkly Marché des Souvenirs, which we avoided like the plague. Our souvenir market had vendors who were quite happy to see us – the first customers of the day at 10 in the morning and, so far as we could tell, the only ones apart from one other couple who came along later on. Though he failed to obtain his great desire, a meal at the (no doubt pricey) Bozo Bar, the kid did get some drinks, a toy car, and half an omelette sandwich for his services, and we got some good souvenirs and gifts. After omelette sandwiches, we headed back to the hotel, where we enjoyed the pool for a while and relaxed.
In the evening, we headed out with a handicapped high-schooler whose friend had a pirogue on the Bani River, the Niger tributary that flows through Mopti. A bad idea, it turns out, as Phoebe’s not the greatest fan of small boats, but we did get to see Bozo, Fulani, Songhaï, and other villages, as well as float over the confluence of the Bani and Niger rivers. Back safely on dry land (ilhumdulillah), we ventured over to the handicapped association’s craftworks. One has to hand it to the physically disabled in Mali and Benin: many are highly motivated, they band together, and they ambitiously work to improve their lives while providing each other fellowship.
Another night at the hotel, and we began the travel adventure back to Benin.
