Photos of our trip to the Festival au Desert in January 2005

A trip to the Festival au Desert in Mali West Africa - from Galitcha's experience January 2005

What to expect

You'll likely fly to the capital city of Bamako. That is about 1000 km southwest of the festival. The flight arrives at around 3 am and the airport is 10 or 20 km from the city. It's best if there is someone there to meet you and drive you into town. Otherwise be prepared to get accosted by a crowd of guys wanting to carry your luggage and taxis wanting to drive you into town. The money is CFA's (Central African Francs) which are not available anywhere but that part of Africa, so if you don't have a ride lined up bring some small denomination Euros to pay for the ride. We offered someone a twoonie to carry some luggage and he was insulted.

To get from Bamako to the festival most people ride in a vehicle that is hired with driver or with a tour company. The vehicles are either Toyota Landcruisers or Land Rovers - you absolutely need 4-wheel drive for the last 350 km of the drive. If you can afford to hire an air conditioned vehicle then you should because all of the trip is dusty and a bit hot. But of course that is a luxury. The ride from Bamako takes about 2 days. The first day is along the national highway which is paved. Around the middle of the second day you reach Douentza and turn off the main highway onto a rough washboard road which the military built about 5 years ago. It's very, very dusty and bumpy. Towards the end of the second day you'll cross the Niger river on a ferry. There might be a long line to get on the ferry. The ride across the river takes about 30 - 45 minutes. It's quite pleasant. The landing point is about 10km south of Timbouctou. The road is paved from the ferry to Timbouctou. Timbouctou is an ancient city. Very dusty in January. Lots of people selling things - almost everyone has something to sell and the selling continues throughout the weekend at the festival. You'll get used to it.

The festival is located about 70 km from Timbouctou. The ride there is rough, there is no actual road, the vehicles just head out across the desert and so be prepared for lots of bouncing and the occasional thrill. We made it in 2 hours, which was absolutely the record. Most vehicles took 3 or 4 hours and some much longer. Make sure you have lots of water on board.

We foreign artists were not treated with any kind of preferential treatment. The tents we were provided with were loosely woven cloth, similar to burlap, held up by a wooden pole in the middle and secured to the ground with stakes. There was no floor. They gave us foam mattresses to sleep on. The tent walls were covered in krumkrums - these nasty little prickly burrs that are in the sand and stick to all clothing - so we had to be careful when entering and exiting the tent not to touch the walls, coz the krumkrums are quite prickly. The tent is opened using a stick to prop on part of the wall up while crawling under. At night the wind picks up and the sand blows in as a fine dust through the loose weave of the tent walls. By morning you are covered in a layer of that dust. I found the dust really a bit hard to take, so next time I go I'm taking a backpackers tent - with zippered opening and a floor. It will be much more comfortable.

The food is served 3 times a day in a covered restaurant where everyone sits on woven mats to eat. There is usually some kind of meat stew, although there is much more stew than meat and served with couscous or rice. Everything has sand in it, but it just makes things a bit gritty - not unpalatable in my opinion. Breakfast is bread baked on site (a little gritty) and Nescafe instant coffee or tea. I have to say that the food isn't terribly exciting, but then again it has to be trucked quite a long way, so it's admirable that they are able to do as much as they do. There were eggs sometimes, some veggies as well. Once we had pasta. There are 2 or 3 beer tents and most of the press people spent much of the weekend lounging there, drinking pretty well anything available in bars here.

The washrooms are disgusting. Truly disgusting. I do hope they come up with something better. Peeing in the desert is definitely the preferred option. Trust me. They ran out of water for the toilets and for washing. The sand is white so you don't really get dirty... not like in the south where everyday we showered twice.

The mainstage music takes place in the evening. They had lots of trouble with the sound equipment - blowing sand and electronic gear don't mix well. The audience is very patient though. The artists are mostly groups from Mali and neighbouring countries. We were one of only 2 foreign bands. The music starts at around 8 and ends after midnight. There were between 2 and 5 thousand spectators, depending on the time of night. Everyone stands on a plateau in front of the stage. Further back the dune dips down and there is more room on the rise of the next sand dune. Dotting the dune side are tubes made of steel mesh and filled with coal which when lit provide light and a lovely warmth. It's quite romantic. Expect thousands of stars floating in a marvelous indigo sky. The sand is amazingly fine and soft. Happily, on the dune facing the stage there were no krumkrums so sitting was very comfortable. That's when you need the warm fleece or shawl though.

During the day there are camel races and traditional music and dancing. I was surprised and disappointed that there wasn't more collaboration amongst the artists. I expected some jamming, but for the most part there wasn't any. There is a market area with stalls filled with wonderful crafts, fabric, clothes and jewelry. That is in addition to the multitude of salesmen who are ready to show and sell their wares anytime or anyplace during the weekend. Early one morning Kuljit and I rented camels to ride to Essakane (about 5 km away) - it's a slow saunter lead by the camel's owner, but it's actually quite hard to sit on that saddle, so we were content to plod along!

Some suggestions on what and what not to take

• go with an open mind - Mali is economically a very poor country - keep in mind, for instance that the people selling things have often no other means of income and excessive haggling for the best price is not the kindest option. Most Malians face a lot of challenges that we will probably never have to even consider. The music and culture are remarkable. Drink it in and treasure those memories as your finest souvenirs.
• before going pick up a copy of the Bradt Travel guide. Inside you'll find lots of info about the country, the history and the Malian culture
• the working language is French so if you don't speak it, consider taking a pocket book of French phrases or a French/English dictionary
• take your money in Euros and American dollars
• don't take American Express travelers cheques - the only place we found to change them is the bank or the money changers in Bamako and they charge a ridiculous exchange rate as well as taking at least 2 hours to do so
• a knapsack is preferable to suitcase - it's hard to roll a suitcase across the sand at the festival
• a good first aid kit including tweezers (to pick out krumkrums), something for nausea and diarrhea, bandaids, Tylenol - our first aid kid also included water purification tablets, antibiotics for dysentery, and syringes - all of which we didn't use but I felt were useful items when going to Africa
• take loose comfortable clothing which is adaptable to cool weather (evenings and early morning) and the heat of the noon day sun
• a fleece, sweater or wool shawl for the cool nights
• lots of undies and socks
• lots of sunscreen
• sunglasses
• a cotton or silk scarf big enough to wrap around your face and head (or buy a turban in Bamako or Timbouctou) to protect from the blowing sand
• a hat - if you aren't wearing a turban
• don't take open toed shoes or sandals - the prickly krumkrums will get you!
• don't take rain gear - it doesn't rain
• make sure all your camera equipment is packed in ziplock or some other protective material so the sand doesn't get to it
• a good backpackers tent is wise
• if you have allergies or asthma, be forewarned - there is a lot of blowing sand and dust and it is advisable to take face masks if you are sensitive to dust
• a windbreaker type jacket
• extra snack food like granola or protein bars, boxed juices or soya milk, peanuts etc - something to tide you over should you be stranded enroute or if the choice of food isn't to your liking
• handkerchiefs or kleenex
• toilet paper
• hand sanitizer
• bug repellent - although the mosquitoes were not bothersome there is still the risk of malaria
• for women - a long skirt so that you can crouch to pee in the desert without taking everything off - especially when enroute to the festival
• take a journal, a hand held tape recorder or video recorder, camera and lots of film - the experience is worth it