Bandiagara to Ouahigouya - what is the piste like?

[davor]

Hey there!

We are a couple on an old Tenere travelling around West Africa...
In two weeks we will head down the road from Mopti Bandiagara (Mali) via Koro to Ouahigouya (Burkina) and we wonder what is it like!

From locals we hear that the piste is just nice, red gravel road, with no sand at all, but from one biker we heard there is too much sand on it...

As we are two up a single bike, to packed and heavy and not very skilled in driving in sand, we would appreciate a more detailed explanation on the road (sand) condition from some bikers that have done this road recently...

Thanx a lot!

Davor

[Griffdowg]

Hey!

was it you we saw visiting Djenne yesterday around Midday? We left around that time in our White Land Cruiser.

We came in via that piste from Bakina, if you go from Bandi down to Koro the road is all gravel but is very pot holed, there is a sand track next to it which is smoother but you do not have to ride on this. from the boder it is Red Gravel (very good, graded) all the was to Ouah where it returns to Asphalt again.

Fuel up as it is a long stretch and leave early as it will take you all day. We drove from Ouagadougou to Bandiagara 7am - 7pm inc. border time (not long at all).

I cannot remember distances sorry, but I hope this piste info helps.

G

[Henn]

We rode Sangha - Koro - Ouahigouya in Dec 2010. The only sand we encountered was on the Sangha - Koro stretch. As far as I remember the Koro - Ouahigouya leg was gravel and reasonably unremarkable.

The border crossing was easy too. You'll be fine.

Ben

[Griffdowg]

Originally Posted by Henn

We rode Sangha - Koro - Ouahigouya in Dec 2010. The only sand we encountered was on the Sangha - Koro stretch. As far as I remember the Koro - Ouahigouya leg was gravel and reasonably unremarkable.

The border crossing was easy too. You'll be fine.

Ben

But you dont have to go via Sangha, you can go south from Bandiagara across the southern part of the escarpement (gravel & asphalt) and onto koro in an anti-clockwise direction. the route is very good.

G

[davor]

Thanx guys!

That info is very helpful... We'll hit this road in few days...

Cheers!

[davor]

So we did this road yesterday... And were really glad we did it (after some other travellers advicing it will be not doable)
So here's some explanation for further travellers who have similar doubts.

The part from Bandiagara to Bankas (down the falaise) is just amazing... From Bankas to Koro it is gravel dirt road, and from Koro to first border post that is the road with some holes which means we were driving from 20-40 kmph.
After to Ouahigiya- the (red gravel)road is so good we drove 60-100 kmph, even though gravel is sometimes a bit slippery like sand. Otherwise there is almost NO send at all on the piste...
There is no problem with fuel on the way. Fuel station in Koro, and some bottled fuel in almost every village.
We started from Djigibombo 8 am, and with few cofee stops and border formalities reached Ouahigiya 2pm.

We are two people traveling on Tenere 660, with some 80 kgs of luggage!

Thanks again for advice and enjoy the trips!

d.



ps. yes Griffdowg, that was us in Djenne i guess if you saw Tenere painted blue!