Our five-day road trip was so whirlwind that describing it chronologically would probably result in a baffling mishmash of impressions. Instead, I'll group photos and narrative by location, starting with Burkina Faso: Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dialasso and all the roads in between.

This first set of photos starts last Thursday, when we got up at 4:00 a.m. and left Bamako before sunrise. We reached Sikasso (Mali) in the early morning, got gas, and continued on to the Burkina border.

At each border there were multiple stops: Showing our visas to the police, getting the vehicle through customs, showing our "laisser-passer" paper to the gendarmes. (I'm probably confusing some of the procedures, but it seemed like it was never the same process twice.)

Most of the police were quite friendly. One joked with me about being related to Charles Taylor. We saw several trying to extract extra "fees" from unfortunate travellers. We maintained the rigid, expressionless faces that one uses when one is talking to the authorities and hoping not to attract any special attention. (Nonetheless, we took in lots of details, like the unhappy man handcuffed to the decrepit cot in the corner, and the tiny sticker still affixed to the lens of the functionary's gold-rimmed glasses.) Happily, our papers were all in order. They stamped everything several times and we were on our way.

We pushed on to Ouagadougou -- a total of about 900km in 12 hours. Ouaga felt similar to Bamako, but perhaps a little more relaxed; the streets were wider, cleaner, and less crowded. We spent the night at the Belle Vue hotel. It was within walking distance of the L'Eau Vive restaurant, which is owned and staffed by missionary nuns. We were seated next to a trickling fountain, a mound of stones with a statue of Mary at the top; a small lizard curled comfortably in her palm. After we finished eating, the nuns/waitstaff distributed slips of paper with the (French) words to Ave Maria, which they proceeded to sing very sweetly.

A peage station somewhere in Burkina. We are in line behind a bakery truck, which paid its toll in bread.

A common sight: An overloaded bachee with goods on top and people stuffed inside.

Morning in Ouagadougou. We are waiting with the truck, fending off multiple sandal salesmen, while Mamadou (our driver) makes a phone call at a cabine nearby. Nescafe pushcarts like the one reflected in the window are all over Bamako, too.

Driving out of Ouaga on a beautiful Friday morning. There seemed to be many more motos there than in Bamako.

Gassing up before heading south to the Ghana border. Mamadou is always wearing that hat, even when he's driving.

This second set of photos is from Sunday, on the return trip. We drove all the way from Tamale (Ghana), through Ouaga, to Bobo-Dialasso. It took about 10 hours, including the usual three or four stops at the border.

These pictures didn't come out too well, since it was getting pretty dark by the time we arrived, and I was taking them out the window of a moving truck, but they still give an idea of what Bobo is like.

Driving into Bobo at sunset.

Looking back at the road to Ouaga. The arch says, "Bonne route."

A mosque near the edge of town.