The drive to Djenne was pretty straight forward until you have to find the turn, which is unmarked. Luckily my GPS was working at the moment (it didn't always cooperate) so I saw the road on the Africa base map and turned in. There were roadblock barrells there and a guy said we had to pay the $2 tourist tax each. I wondered how true that tax was. We pulled forward and quickly began to pass vans of tourists, a rare site in West Africa. As we got close to the ferry the road turned to mud, which I loved, so I jumped through some mud-puddles and jumped the line to the front of the ferry. We got lots of attention from the guys there and even the europeans who were eager to hear about our voyage. JJ got off his bike but I stayed on since it kept sinking in the mud and let the locals ask all the questions about the gps, top speed, tires, etc. The ferry guys were being real jerks and ended up holding us from getting on until all the cars loaded, which didn't leave room for our bikes so we ended up holding the breaks the whole way with our rear tires hanging halfway off. Getting off the ferry I noticed that on my side of the boat the car's drivers tires were dropping way down into the water. It looked like he'd come in at a bad angle. I saw this as an opportunity for fun and gassed it off the boat, plunging into three foot deep water, up the sides of my bags and gassed out of it like a kid. It was my first time driving in deep water and I loved it. We drove down the causeway and turned left into Djenne. We putted past mud buildings (the city is walled in) and got to a big market. It was market day. I took out my map to find our bearings and where we were in relation to the Campement we planned to sleep at. A guy pulled up on a moto and asked where we were staying, told me we had to go around and back out of the city to get there. I told him it looked closer and he asked if we needed a guide. I told him "no thanks" and headed toward the market, the opposite direction of where he'd indicated. This guy then perceded to chase us, yelling at us that we couldn't go that way. He gassed up next to us then I heard his motor rev one more time and I hit the brakes to turn around and let him have it. He was gone. I suppose it's best not to throw a man in the middle of market day when you're a 6'3", 300lb white man in an African town so i'm thankful he wasn't there. We pulled forward and realized we couldn't find the camp so we headed back out following the guys first directions. Turns out they were totally false, he just wanted us to get lost so we'd ask him to be our guide. We asked around and finally found the road to Campement Chez Baba, where we'd agreed to meet the guys for lunch. We decided it'd be just as good to stay there and talked to the owner, Mr. Baba about the following day's routes. JJ was concerned about another gravel road and wasn't impressed with Djenne. I was however and love gravel roads but somehow knew i'd end up cutting my visit to Djenne short. We walked through the market and then went up on the roof of a house next to the Mosque so we could take pictures. It's an impressive building really. We walked around and then found the Campement, the original place we'd been looking for. We decided to go in for a coke and were blown away at the number of white Europeans sitting outside at the restaurant. I sat down, feeling a little like i'd left the planet, and i'm sure stared at a good number of them awkwardly. There was a french family we'd seen the night before who we greeted and we finished our cokes feeling "blended in the crowd" for once instead of the usual life of outsiders.
We walked back to Chez Baba's for lunch, where we'd already put in our orders, and were delighted to see our new friends walk in. We had chicken and fries which was good, and chatted with the guys about their travel preferences. One was like me, who likes to soak in places, taking time to feel a places energy and meet uncommon people while the other was like JJ who likes to snap a photo, stamp a passport, and move on. I thought it was funny listening to them argue when JJ and I had been doing the same thing the whole trip. They bought us lunch and we said goodbyes. JJ and I walked to the bikes and started talking about whether we should leave or not that day, since we found out the ferry sometimes doesn't leave until 8 a.m. We were worried that'd set us back so we talked to the hotel guys again and before it was over i'd agreed to leave right then, head to San, and take paved roads through Bobo-Dioulosso all the way to Ouagadougou. If i'd only know. I think the dirt roads had beat the BMW and JJ up to the point that he had a bit of an irrational fear of them, but that was part of the partnership of the trip together and I kept reminding myself he'd saved my ankle. We geared up, thanked Baba for letting us lock our stuff in the room for the day, and pulled out catching the ferry as soon as we arrived. We were better positioned this time but I was pretty bummed about not being able to soak in Djenne, which had a unique energy of it's own. I'd loved to have sipped coffee and watched people leave the market to go home. It'd been beautiful at sunset. We tore up the asphalt and got to the turn which i'd planned earlier on in the trip. The city was Tominam and although the road was paved on the Mali side the police said it'd be dirt in Burkina. I could tell JJ didn't want to make the ride so we rode on to San, an odd city with a huge stadium close to the Niger river. We stopped for gas and asked the gas guy if there was a campement in town. He said there was and that we should follow the main road until the next round point with a shell station and take a left. About 5 miles later the paved road, mind you the only paved road, turned into a market. People had tables set up on the road, beach umbrellas on stands and tons of pedestrians browsing the local produce. I turned and looked at JJ and shrugged, thinking what the heck. So I began crawling forward on my bike and eased under umbrellas, past tables, and gently passed people. Everyone stayed in a good mood about it (which isn't guaranteed) and after a few minutes we'd come out at our roundpoint. The campement turned out to be run down buildings with no electricity. Like a 1/3 the way finished guesthouse they were calling a camp to make some money. We decided to turn back toward the road for the next day and check out two hotels we'd passed on the way in. This time we found a way to take back roads circumventing the market. We stopped at Hotel Teriya and they had a double "room" with a fan and bathroom for $25. We took it and hit the bar for cokes and water. By this point I really enjoyed talking with JJ, despite how differently we tended to think. I really felt like we'd taken care of each other this trip and sacrifices made me enjoy getting to know him. We crashed at 8:30 and looked at the next day's route....over 800km and a border crossing...we'd better get some rest.
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