Keita was looking much better than when I left, and he accepted the Casablanca plan without a moment’s hesitation, which propelled me on to Djenne the following morning (Wednesday), with the Bani bus, which dropped me off at the Djenne crossroads at about 3.30 pm.
Amadou’s old hatch-back was conveniently filled with enough passengers to start the last 35km journey to Djenne without any of the customary waiting time, and as always I marveled at this antique Peugeot: how on earth did it manage to carry us to the Bani crossing and even beyond onto Djenne? The picture above illustrates the inside of the door on the front passenger’s side.
The plan was to arrive at the hotel unannounced: what would I find?
There had been various worrying email reports that there was no one at the hotel to greet prospective guests of the hotel or at the bar.
And yes, indeed, that was in fact the case when I turned up. There was only Boubakar the gardener and Ali the ‘chambermaid’, engaged in the pumping of water from the well to water the garden. This was of course laudable, but it would be of no use for anyone wanting to book a room or have a drink! Beigna was nowhere to be seen, and did not surface until about two hours later.