My home away from home, a photo from Koulikoro, South

Photographer's Note

This is the railway station in Bamako. The sign on the Art Nouveau building from colonial days says "Chemin de fer de Dakar au Niger" ("Niger" referring to the river, not the nation).

But what about "my home away from home"? If you look carefully you will find at the right corner of the building a white sign saying "Buffet hotel". That was the entrance to a hotel situated on the top floor of the building, facing the railway tracks.

I spent most of my roughly two weeks in Bamako in February 1982 in this hotel. It was regarded as the best budget hotel in the city. The rooms were okay, and there was a good and not expensive restaurant, but what made this hotel very special was the dance-floor in the garden somewhere behind the lower building.

What the Cavern Club in Liverpool meant for British pop music in the early 1960's (The Beatles... Mersey sound...), the Buffet Hotel de la Gare meant for modern West African music in the 1970's and 1980's. For many years the Super Rail Band de Bamako (now and then slightly changing names) was the regular feature here, playing in the garden several nights a week. Some of West Africa's most legendary singers and musicians started their careers here, like the singers Salif Keita and Mory Kanté (who died recently aged 70) and the guitarists Kante Manfila and Djelimady Tounkara.

It was fun to listen to the Rail Band in the evenings, after dinner, but it was less fun that they kept on playing until 2 AM several nights a week. But their concerts remain among my most special memories from that journey.

As for the railway, built around the turn of the last century, it more or less collapsed after the World Bank pressured the Senegalese and Malian governments to privatize it in 2003. In 2010 the services stopped, but according to Wikipedia a Chinese company signed a contract in 2015 to revive it.

As you already figured out, the photo was scanned from a Kodachrome slide.

tyro, tyro, ikeharel, Royaldevon, pierrefonds, jean113, jhm, papagolf21, alvaraalto, PaulVDV, adramad, ktanska, ricardomattos, COSTANTINO, macjake, ChrisJ, PiotrF, worldcitizen, mcmtanyel ha puntuado esta nota como útil.

Critiques | Translate

Fis2 (170669) 2020-06-06 0:46

Witaj Gert!
Another nice scene from daily life.
Interesting railway station building.
I like colors.
Excellent reportage shot.
Nice weekend.
Krzysztof

tyro (30513) 2020-06-06 2:59

Good morning Gert,

Another fine photograph of excellent quality and a most interesting note too about your stay in Bamako.

It wasn't until I looked at your photograph full size that I then noticed the sign for your "Buffet Hotel". That sounds as though it was a fun place to stay, with good food and free musical entertainment every evening. If you were travelling here for pleasure it would certainly have been enjoyable, bit if you were here in your professional capacity as a reporter then I suspect being kept awake half the night might have become rather annoying.

Your photo (yet another excellent scan of a Kodachrome slide) is a perfect record of daily life outside this quite busy looking station almost forty years ago, though there's nothing terribly exceptional going on. But it is your note and your description of the Super Rail Band de Bamako, its music and its musicians and singers which is the most captivating.

I'm not sure if you are quite as avid an explorer of YouTube as I am, but you might like to see this little video which includes some music - as well as a portrait of Mory Kanté:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VePDsPh49Sc

And here's a video including Djelimady Tounkara in Bamako in 2008, although it might not be by the railway station:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=em7MtBJcum8

Wonderful!

Kind Regards,

John.

Royaldevon (85862) 2020-06-06 3:45

Hello Gert,

Your notes are as interesting as your photograph.
Without them, we would never have suspected that there was a hotel above the station or that there was such an important music scene in the garden. These must have been strong and cheerful memories for you; even the band playing until 2.00a.m. has made a deep impression! 😆

The train station looks like a colonial building, with decorations that look quite art deco.

It's a fine journalistic shot, capturing the mode of dress at that time ( I had a pair of flared, cord jean, just like those worn by the guy in the f/g), the old vehicles and, what I imagine are, buses.

There are a number of suitcases but most things appear to be carried in cardboard boxes.

Though Mali did have its problems, this looks a calm, easy-going, unthreatening place.

Thanks for sharing this,
Bev :-)

ikeharel (113273) 2020-06-06 4:31

wonderful depiction of the action in front of the RR station, Gert.
The building makes good impression at the far side of the big lot, where many people gathered. Vibrant picture outcome on a good scan.
Wish you a nice weekend,
Ike

pajaran (115805) 2020-06-06 4:35

Pozdrav.
Lep pogled i trenutak, interesantan i dobar tekst ...
Lepo mesto i stara arhitektura. Lepa zgrada zeleznicke stanice.
Dobar rad skeniranjem slajda, lepo pokazano, dobro uhvacen trenutak.
Zelim vam lepo popodne, sve najbolje.
Paja.

Greeting.
Nice view and moment, interesting and good text ...
Nice place and old architecture. Nice train station building.
Good work by scanning the slide, nicely shown, well captured moment.
I wish you a nice afternoon, all the best.

pierrefonds (114371) 2020-06-06 5:16

Hi Gert,

The presence of the crowd is animating the scene. The point of view is showing the details of the railway station and of the Buffet hotel. The light is bringing out the colours. Have a nice day.

Pierre

Silvio1953 (221493) 2020-06-06 5:51

Ciao Gert, great view of beautiful building, lovely composition with a lot of people, excellent clarity, wonderful colors, fine details and splendid light, very well done, my friend. have a good week end, ciao Silvio

GyurMaster (24818) 2020-06-06 5:58

Dear Gert,

These colonial buildings are always very interesting for me as they are totally alien in that environment. Most time they grow directly from dust. Again, it was not only the photo, but your notes, that provided interesting details.

Best Wishes,
Gy.

rychem (72187) 2020-06-06 7:33

Usually in front of the station building we can see crowds like in your photo, today because of covid 19 there is empty at the stations.
A very nice photo from your archive, the daily life scenes are very well shown
regards Ryszard

jean113 (27819) 2020-06-06 7:51

Hello Gert, the usual melee of traffic, people and baggage that we expect to see outside a railway station, but this is 1982.
I would never have expected there to be a hotel as a part of this building. The station has a distinctive style that makes it stand out in these surroundings.
Your notes and recollection of this place add up to a very interesting picture.
Excellent quality scan.
Kind regards, Jean.

jhm (211736) 2020-06-06 9:29

Hello Gert,

38 Year ago but tral a wonderful scanned image.
A wonderful picture, with a quiet area and calm people, you did very well.
Excellent presentation too.
Perfect done, TFS.

Have a nice weekend,
John.

Miguel82 (47110) 2020-06-06 10:40

Gert, Bamako railway station has kept its colonial charm. It has an elegant facade and includes a clock tower. The big trees planted around the building provide shadow to the people going back and forth. The group of boys came maybe too early and are waiting with their luggages before entering in the station. Fine colors, good sharpness, absorbing photo note, regards.

Tue (92312) 2020-06-06 11:06

Hej Gert,
Det ser jo ud som en stor banegård bør se ud. Art Nouveau stilen er meget smuk og træerne på begge sider danner en fin ramme omkring bygningen. De mange biler og mennesker gør billedet meget livligt og viser at det er et vigtigt og travlt område i byen.
Lars

jmdias (115072) 2020-06-06 12:15

gert

I like the music of Salif Keita, nice to see where it was playing in the beginning of his journey. I liked the shapes of the railway station, nice inclusion of the public in FG and nice note too.

take care

jorge

lousat (139198) 2020-06-06 14:42

Hi Gert,very very interesting note about your long nights there with the sound of rail band..hehe...a great memory of your trip in Bamako,the pic is perfect another time,well done! Have a nice Sunday and thanks,Luciano

emka (158058) 2020-06-06 23:29

Hello Gert, Fantastic, especially in the large format we can appreciate how sharp it is, we see many inserting details, ass if we could see this scene in own eyes.
I looked in Google, one picture was taken in 202 and this station looks abandoned. Have you gone somewhere with this train? To Senegal for instance?

A very interesting note about the music. There are some places that remain special in my memories because the music was played (and danced) around. First of all Cuba, but also marimba sounds in Guatemala or mariachi in Mexico. After the journeys, I look for it on youtube and listen to it.

Have a nice Sunday

MAlgo

papagolf21 (152607) 2020-06-07 0:58

Bonjour, cher Gert,
J'aime ces souvenirs qui sont décrits à travers cette note, nous avons l'impression de partager vos moments.
Quant à l'hôtel, c'est déjà bien de pouvoir bénéficier du confort.
Effectivement, les stigmates de la colonisation sont encore présents.
Amitiés.
Philippe

alvaraalto (42804) 2020-06-07 5:17

Hello Gert,
A particularly tough railway station in an African Art Nouveau style although it must have been designed by a European architect.
A nice photo with the waiting group in the foreground.
Unfortunately no picture of the orchestra you described with gusto in the workshop.
We can do it with your visual description in the info.
Excellent work
Have a nice day, groet Rob

PaulVDV (62846) 2020-06-07 5:48

Hello Gert,
That's a very interesting travel story, actually a residence story: an overnightstay at a music festival in Africa.
I think there are two possibilities:
Either you have become a big fan of this music or you never want to hear it again :)
I don't think the latter is the case.
Travelling by train through Africa must be fun and staying close to the station also offers advantages. Unless there was only that connection to Dakar. I once met someone who travelled from Dakar to Mali by train but I don't remember any other stories about train travel in Mali itself.
The railway station is well shown flanked by the huge trees.
Plus, it wouldn't be your photo if a large group of people didn't provide a vibrant foreground.
Best regards, Paul

adramad (72940) 2020-06-07 9:19

Hi Gert.
A splendid note to put ourselves in situation on the image that you present to us, very lively streets of people and here next to the railway station even more, an interesting building and large trees on both sides, it would have been very hard for me to spend two weeks in this place.
Excellent POV, with very good lighting, color and sharpness to enjoy the details.
Very good work. I like
Enjoy a happy Sunday.
Very best regards.
Luis.

ktanska (44738) 2020-06-07 10:06

Hej Bert,
Quite original looking railway station. And lots of people as usual on such places. Very interesting note. As I like to travel by trains I have often stayed on a station hotel.
Kari

ricardomattos (17460) 2020-06-07 11:18

Oi Gert,

Uma bela estação, uma bela foto como a cena de um filme e uma história por trás da boa fotografia, que neste caso é a sua história. Parece ser um lugar agitado e especialmente em pleno funcionamento nos anos 80. Belo trabalho!

Parabéns e bom domingo

Ricardo

BennyV (34748) 2020-06-07 11:37

I just fell off my chair, Gert!!!

You've seen the Super Rail Band at the buffet of the railway station of Bamako!!! That's like the holy grail of world music, your comparison to the Beatles in the Cavern is about the only one that could do justice to this. You are so right there!

Wow, wow, wow!

---

We visited Mali in 2002 and were lucky to see and hear some great music too, partly because we could get in touch with a musician who played at wedding parties in Bamako and we were allowed to follow him. The highlight though was a small private concert for us by the amazing Bouba Sacko of Banjourou (Big String Theory). Maybe you know that recording? If not, it's highly recommended.

Meanwhile...still lying on the ground...quite hard to type these words...wow!!!

Benny

COSTANTINO (116405) 2020-06-08 22:04

Hello my friend and have a nice day
I love reading your useful notes
and particularly your descriptions
as following......what made this
hotel very special was the dance floor
in the garden somewhere behind
the lower building...
regards
Costantino

macjake (98408) 2020-06-08 23:59

Hi Gert
by the way, i did what I said I'd do. I looked up that Temple which you posted with the young boy in the red shirt, it looks SO different today, but still recognizable. Glad I did that.
great note to go along with this photo. The hotel was so close to the railway station...that can be really good and really bad at the same time haha. I hope this railway station IS brought back to life, its too rich in heritage for it not to. and of course its great looking at all the cars, and all the people, and what they're wearing. fun city shot, I like this alot. cheers
Craig

ChrisJ (171818) 2020-06-09 1:47

Hi GERT

In small towns a hotel right next to the train station is usually not a problem but in larger towns a street or 2 away lessens the noise factor. A good daily life scene of the area. Tfs!

PiotrF (54572) 2020-06-15 16:17

Hello Gert,
An interesting picture from Bamako.
Wonderful architecture in background and nice daily life scene in the foreground.
Fine presentation
Regards
Piotr

worldcitizen (16048) 2020-06-25 13:14

Hello Gert,
This is a very lively photo, with the railway station, and its three arches, really standing out. I like the blue accents that match the light blue vehicle on the right. I can imagine the garden and the music in your hotel, too. Take good care!

mcmtanyel (68421) 2021-10-30 20:38

Hello Gert,
It is a gorgeous building, I hope they have preserved it.
Regards,
MT