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-   -   Road conditions - Mali and Senegal (https://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/sub-saharan-africa/road-conditions-mali-and-senegal-43644)

ThorBN 20 Jun 2009 22:03

Road conditions - Mali and Senegal
 
Hey All

Will be traveling through Mali and Senegal in August (rainy season), and I hope someone can help me with some updated info on the state of the roads in Mali and Senegal.

Mopti to Bamako: what is the state of the road, and how long will the drive take? I'm guessing it should be split in two, or can it be done in one day?

Bamako - Kayes - Dakar: What state is the road in? Any recommendations for spliting up the drive?

Anyone know about the condition of the road Bamako - Kayes via Kita?

Don't know if it makes a big difference, but I'm going by car - Suzuki Grand Vitara.

Cheers, and thank you all in advance.
Thor

wilco 21 Jun 2009 11:09

Mopti - Bamako = tarmac with holes and "sleeping policemen" at each end of every village. Don't speed! Takes 6-8 hours depending on traffic.

Bamako - Dakar = excellent tarmac to the border, thereafter pisspoor with bad holes everywhere. Buses do the journey in 36 hrs, including an overnight stop at the border. You might like to stop at Kayes, Tambacunda,?

Dave

panhandle1300 29 Jun 2009 19:34

Road conditions
 
Hi ThorBn,
We came through Mali, Senegal Feb/Mar time, we didn't go as far as Mopti but the road from Djenne via San to Bamako was not too bad.
The road up to Kayes is ok, but from there to Tamba (about 100 miles) is very bad tarmac/Dirt with some occaisonal good dirt detours, after Tamba all good to Dakar. There is a nice shiny new tarmac road running alongside which may be open now.
Have Fun

krogers17 3 Jul 2009 22:32

Mopti Bamako Good Road
 
Did trip in 4x4 2 years back - road was great tarmac all way with potholes only occasionally. It is 8 hours period with lots of speeding as in some places you must slow down - the speed bumps in each town are very large bumps indeed. Still, great drive mostly flat.

ThorBN 16 Jul 2009 18:46

Hey

Thank you all for your useful replies. It has given us an extra day or two in our planning:thumbup1: - thought the roads were worse than that. Now we are just crossing our fingers, and hoping that that nice new tar road that Panhandle mentions is open!! - and that the election in Mauri are peaceful - but that's a different story...

Once again thank you

Thor

roadsacallin 27 Jul 2009 14:34

Bamako to Kayes through Kita
 
I drove the road through Kita a few days ago. From Bamako, the road to Kita is good asphalt. From Kita to Toukoto, the road is very good dirt, but it turns north at Toukoto. From Toukoto, the road (or roads) roughly follows the train tracks, crossing them occasionally. Some sections are actually the old railway bed, straight and flat, but most of the road is rough, with some thick mud after heavy rains, and many washed out sections. The path I took (and there may be others that I was unaware of) was rarely taken by automobile, and the trail sometimes was only single track. After Kale, there's a ferry that crosses the river to Bafoulabe, or just after Kale, you can jump to the south side of the train tracks, follow them to the river, and cross on the train bridge (probably not possible in a car). From Bafoulabe, the road doesn't improve much, as the Mich. map suggests. This is a beautiful route, especially from Toukoto to Bafoulabe; green and lush with impressive rock escarpments and old run-down French colonial outposts.

Enjoy your travels-
Marcus


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