Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, these were once countries with lively culture, fascinating cities, with people who openly welcomed travelers – and reporters too. The long-time Africa correspondent Bartholomäus Grill looks back with sadness.
Today the trip seems like something from another world. In 1995 I traveled with the French photographer Pascal Maitre from Tanzania in East Africa to Senegal in the West. We used all possible means of transport over around 21,000 kilometers, from the train to the donkey cart, from the passenger ship to the bicycle taxi. In those years, you couldn’t plan trips in advance, book accommodations via hotel portals or arrange appointments via WhatsApp. The Internet and digital photography were still in their early stages, there were no cell phones, only brick-sized communication devices that were useless in Africa.