Looking for people familiar with Africa

[liz_marcs]

People looking for the latest installment of Water Hold Me Down (which was posted last night), click here.


Just throwing this out there because, hey, you never know.

I'm looking for people who are familiar with Mali (specifically: Mopti, Segou, and Sanga) and Algeria (specifically: the road south of Tamanrasset to I-n-Guezzam through the Sahara).

Obviously, I'll take anything you've got. Mostly, I'm looking for travel times and best modes of travel. Also, general atmosphere and (especially for Algeria) general travel cautions.

Plus, hopefully someone will be willing to look over stuff to make sure I've got it right.

Comments

[mara-sho.livejournal.com]

I haven't been to Algeria specifically but one day last week I happened to catch a couple of episodes of Michael Palin's documentary series about his trips around the Sahara. Pretty much any travel on public transport was frowned upon to the extent of having heavily armed ex-SAS men accompany him on the train and shutting off the entire Suuq when he wanted to visit. Lots of bombings go on still apparently although the woman from the company said there was no problems. A fact belied by the sheer number of armed security guards there to watch out for Palin.

I hope you get the info you're looking for!

[ludditerobot.livejournal.com]

I ain't the guy, but I did find this: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/worldguide/destinations/africa/algeria/transport

It being Lonely Planet, it's a first-hit resource, so I bed you've seen it already. Still, anything I can do to help.

[caille.livejournal.com]

I just read a fascinating book by Tanya Shaffer entitled "Somebody's Heart Is Burning". It's a non-fiction account of a young American woman's travels in west Africa. It's mostly set in Ghana, but there is some stuff about Mali and Burkina Faso. Shaffer travels by the cheapest ways possible, including several boats on the river Niger on the way to Timbouctou. It's very vivid.