We cabbed it there, and sometimes cab drivers will pick up a second fare on your trip. That happened to us for the first time so we got an interesting detour.
On arrival we bought tickets from what seemed like a random guy on the street with a booklet full of tickets. But I think he was an official ticket seller. Price ranged from $2 - $10. We splurged on the $10 VIP seats. Rebecca also bought $2 tickets for four boys standing there. That turned into a bit of a frenzy, and I'm not sure exactly how it turned out since we hightailed it out of there. Hopefully none of the tickets were partially ripped since that is how the gate keepers were marking used tickets.
Then we got in the most interesting line I've been in lately. It snaked about two hundred yards through a dirt lot, some scattered trees and a parking lot. It reminded me of kindergartners lining up to go to recess in a perfect single file line, with each child tightly pressed against the child in front and the air filled with excitement. It was very orderly and fun.
After we got in we ended up, by chance, sitting on the "seated" side of the stadium. While the other side stood and cheered the whole game, people in our section were actually once scolded by security and told to sit. The stadium had no concessions, but outside where were all of the typical Malian street vendors selling food and drinks -- and not even at inflated prices.
The game was exciting and Mali won 2-1. As a side note, I saw no other white people there, and there were hardly any women either.
This short video features a clip during the game and the celebration after -- people are running out of the stadium for no apparent reason besides joy.
Good times. Keep giving us more videos.
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