Bamako

Eat

Love them or hate them, the French have left one decent legacy in West Africa: bread. Fresh delicious baguettes are ubiquitous, and travellers should not be worried about becoming sick because of the bread.

Vegetarians will have a hard time in Bamako. Asking for a meal without meat will usually be met with the kind of look reserved for children and elderly relatives one does not wish to upset. In a country where poverty is common and food is often scarce, turning down meat is an oddity.

That said, mornings beans, fries, and fried plaintains can be found streetside throughout the city. Morning, noon, and night you can find small streetside "cafes" where you can get a fried egg sandwich and some nescafe. Several varieties of fried dough are also easy to stumble upon. Lunch- rice and groundnut stew is most easy to find, in local restaurants a plate with meat shouldn't cost more than CFA 500, but can range up to CFA 1,500. Evenings you can find attcheke (cassava dish), spaghetti, beans, boiled eggs, and fries relatively easily.

Meat eaters will be pleased to learn beef and fish are exceptionally good. Beef kebabs and grilled Capitaine, a freshwater fish from the Niger river, are always a good choice. Chickens are usually left to fend for themselves, and tend to be on the scrawny side, especially compared to North American chickens. Although the situation is improving, you might want to avoid disappointment and just give chicken a miss while in Bamako. To avoid food-borne illne…

Drink

The Evasion Jazz Club can be pretty cool on Fridays and Saturdays. The Hippo d'Or (close to Hippodrome) is also a nice place for enjoying non-stop live music on Fridays and, even more, on Saturdays. There is a big casino near the Hotel L'Amitie. Ibiza, Blyblos and Terrace are still the hippest places to dance and drink. For some less seedy drinking establishments, try No Stress & Jet Set (formerly Privledge), which both have pool tables as well. Bla Bla and its twin in Badalabougou are known to get pumping on weekends.

Crazy Horse has some good food and is well priced.

Stay safe

In Bamako you have a high chance of encountering the police. You should always at least carry a copy of your passport and visa. It is often not sufficient to just show your driving license and this might lead to a ride to the police office - if you're not prepared to bribe your way out. Notice that the police often stops taxis.

If the price of the 'ticket' seems high (more than, say, CFA 5,000 for a minor offence), ask to go to the police station. There you can get an official receipt which shows the true price of the offence. Many locals consider it a moral issue to pay proper fines rather than grease the pockets of corrupt police.

Stay healthy

If you go gradually (doni doni) you'll be able to drink Bamako's quite chemically tasting tap water. You shouldn't drink the unmarked sachets with water or syrupy water as long as you don't drink tap water—though the branded sachets of mineral water are fine (CFA 50).

Or you can avoid any hassles and drink bottled water. If you're sticking around town for a while, try buying bottled water by the case. The price will drop from about CFA 1500-1800 to CFA 600-700 per 1.5 litre bottle.

Clinique Pasteur is a more expensive toubab clinique, is fairly clean, and is within close proximity to the US Embassy in ACI 2000 area of Bamako. Dr Toure there speaks English, was medically trained in Canada and he can be reached via mobile at: +223 6674 0572. Don't trust Dr. Dolo with your pregnancy. Normally they want to have you taking all possible tests, and are notorious for recommending drastic unnecessary and expensive treatments. You first might want to consult a cheaper normal health centre like Clinique Farako in Hamdallaye, or the Centre Diagnostique (Dr. Catherine Cisse) near the old Pont de Martys. Even then, double check all recommendations online and with a doctor abroad before embarking on any treatment plan or surgery.

Go next

Siby is a town a one-hour drive from Bamako on asphalt road. Once you are there in Siby, you may want a 4-wheel drive vehicle to explore the sandy roads to several touristic sites within a 30-minute drive. It has very nice scenery, rocks to climb, and the Saturday market. There is a historic grotto, a 45-minute hike to a mountain side, a natural arch where rock climbers can get a panoramic view of the city and countryside, a cascading waterfall and surprisingly cool pool which makes for a wonderfully fresh plunge, about a 30-minute drive from the city's main road.