We crossed the Senegal River at the Pont du Kayes, high above the water. Under the bridge was also a small dam, not far from the pinasse landing stage for Médine upstream. Many pedestrians were using this dam instead of the bridge above their heads.At the other side of the dam and bridge at the westside is another landing stage for pinasses, heading to the west, downstream. Here you can take a pinasse to Goutioubé at the Senegalese border (2.500 CFA).
North of the towncentre of Kayes is the Senegal River. Near the Pont du Kayes we stopped for a while to have a look at the life along the river.At the eastside of the bridge you find the pinasses to Mediné (750 CFA). Fort the Mediné lies about 15 KM upstream from Kayes and was part of the chain defence posts along the Senegal River in French colonial times. We didn't visit this place ourselves.
When we left the commercial centre of the town and headed in the direction of the Senegal River and Pont du Kayes, the streets were allready much busier than at the moment we entered the towncentre earlier in the morning.Even along the mainroad and the roundabouts we saw many marketstalls, like these vegetable stalls at the roundabout just south of the Pont Du Kayes.
Most of the streets in the towncentre of Kayes are unpaved, so it can be rather dusty with the traffic of cars, trucks, mopeds and carts.In downtown Kayes, even in the Centre Comercial, we had not the feeling to be in a major town and the principal settlement in the west of Mali. Kayes has a relaxed, easygoing and hassle free atmosphere like you would expect in minor towns and villages.
In the region of Kayes live a lot of muslims. Not far from the Senegal River, between the the 'Rue El Hadj-Omar-Tall' and 'Rue 12' you can find the Grand Mosque.A few blocks further in the direction of the market you can find the Catholic Church, just south of the market. In the larger villages north of Kayes we saw only mosques and no churhces.
While we were walking in the direction of the market not far from the Senegal River, the streets became more lifely. There were allready lots of people around to do their shopping or bring their goods for sale to the market.We saw many loaded hand carts and women, carrying the bright-coloured African buckets. I love these buckets and use them allready for some years at home too. We especially looked around for food, which we could take with us for the next about two days off-road en route to Mauritania.
During the day the town is told to be very hot and dusty, but around 8 am it still OK to stroll around and to do your shopping.We used our time to visit the bank to change money, to refuel and to buy bread, water and other drinks for our journey to the north. Luckily the bank was open very early and we were also able to buy new sunglasses along the road.
Before 7 am we were ready for departure and after we managed with some creativity to pass the too low gate of the Tieba hotel with our cars, we could head to the towncentre of Kayes.I like the special atmosphere in the early morning in African towns and villages. People are walking to their destinations, the first streetstalls start their first business and in Kayes we saw also the smoke of the burning garbage along the streets.
Many travellers in West Africa know Kayes only as town along the railway from Dakar to Bamako. They only pass through on the express between those two capitals of Senegal and Mali.This 1200 KM long train line from Dakar to Bamako is a remnant from the colonial time. It is the longest railspan in West Africa, partially built with forced labour.If you make a stop-over in Kayes, you can take the express to Senegal and Dakar. To Bamako you have the choice between the express, the autorail or weekend train.
A few KMs south of the citycentre of Kayes is the old airport. At the moment of our visit it was not more than a large dusty plain. Some youngsters were playing football and we saw a lot of parked trucks. Further there was not much activity anymore. For us it was a landmark to find our Tieba HotelThere is a new airport built 4 KM north of the Senegal River and the town. It is on the road to Yélimané.
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