Sunsetting on the Niger River
Nobody slept a wink last night it seems. Between the fierce heat and the raucous pub crawlers, we decided to change locations and get a proper hotel. We packed up and demanded the 1,000 CFA change they owed us from yesterday and left straight away. We tried to find the Malian embassy; it was supposed to be on the same street as the campground. We drove around in circles asking every person we saw until we finally learned that the embassy relocated to a brand new building next to the U.S. embassy.
The staff there was exceptionally nice. We got our visas on the same day, not nearly as expensive as Niger but still costly. We tried to find a hotel that was listed in the Lonely Planet and couldn’t find it either, again, another moved location since the printing of the book. We were so thankful for this hotel, the rooms had air-conditioning and there was even a pool that actually had water in it! We spent the hottest parts of the day bobbing around in the pool. We met an interesting Tuareg guy who works as a guide bringing people through the Sahara.
Expat Central
Nearby there was a fancy hotel so we walked over only intending to have a sundowner drink and gaze at the Niger river but we ended up staying for dinner also. The place was crawling with expats. Even the band that was singing was comprised of expats! It was a surreal day filled with air-con, pools, Italian cuisine, and about 50 expat aid workers; the luxury of it all was welcomed.
