Ayoun - Nioro
 

Anybody knows of road conditions between Ayoun and Nioro?
Is it true, that they are paving the piste?
Furthermore, can anyone give me infos about piste from Nioro via Nara to Niono?
As usual I am travelling solo in old 2WD. I have waypoints for the Nara - Niono leg, but not for the rest.
Would like to be in Segou for the "festival sur le niger" 2007.
Any info would be greatly appreciated.

I am also willing to take 2-3 passengers along to cut costs, sorry, no newbies - it rarely works out -;)

Hello,
From Ayoun el Atrous to Nioro there is a complete tarmac 'highway', starting just out of town (direction Nema).

Nioro>Nara>Niono
We went the oposite direction (feb2005) without a route, just a map. We didn't take notes so this is what I remember of a very nice leg in our trip.
We calculated some coordinates for general direction and asked around lots of time because there is not one big piste (or we could not find it) between Nara and Nioro. Lots of small pistes winding and splitting in all directions, sometimes sandy, sometimes deep ruts but mostly dusty dried mud (flat and speedy) winding along bushes and deep tracks made by trucks in the rainy season (!). Between Nara and Sokolo a bigger track pretty straight forward. Between Sokolo and Niono, lots of agricultural works with good dirt roads on dikes along canals, sometimes a bit confusing and detours to find a bridge to the otherside of a canal. From Niono to Segou tarmac again.
If you have some experience it's probably doable with a 2wd although I would take someone in the passengers-seat(s) (to do the pushing :biggrin:), the aria is not deserted but there is almost no traffic between Nioro and Nara.

regards

Thanks for the info Bart
 

I guess i will decide in Niono if I head straight to Bamako and on to Segou, or if I take the scenic route via Nara. Drove from Sokolo to Timbedgha in March with a Defender, got lost frequently, but in the end made the distance from Segou to Nouakchott in three days driving hard and through the night (something I would not recomend doing in Africa)!

Thanks again for Your Route description.