A landlocked country in the Sahel, Mali remains one of the poorest countries in the world, but it has wonderful musicians and some incredible sights, including four UNESCO World Heritage sites and the historic city of Timbuktu.
Just under half the population is less than 15 years old. The great majority of Malians are Muslim, some also practice indigenous beliefs, and a tiny number are Christian. Around 10% of the population is nomadic. Most Malians work in agriculture and fishing.
Visa. Visas are not required for several African countries. For all other countries, a visa is required. VOA. An invitation is required (copy of hotel reservations or company letter explaining the purpose of the trip) to obtain the visa. At the Mali Embassy in Dakar, Senegal, a 30-day visa cost CFA25,000 (2018).
For Canadian passport holder – Mali: 2 days turnaround for single entry tourist visa (cost C$100), complete form on website (Ottawa embassy for Mali) to download the visa app form: https://www.ambamali.ca/documents/Formulaire.pdf and send required doc along with money. Can apply for the visa starting July.
Mali hotel: Hotel Tamana Hippodrome a Bamako au Mali ($50/n with breakfast)
Capital: Bamako
Currency: West African CFA franc (XOF) July 2022 1US$=650; 1€=656; 1 CAD=498
Population: 18.5 million
Country Code +223
Language. French official, Bambara, Peulh/Fula, Dogon, and Tamashek, the language of the Tuareg people), used by 80%. Few speak French outside bigger towns. Very few people speak English.
MALI (continuation from Burkina Faso)
Day 5 (Tue, Oct 11): Bobo Dioulasso-San, MALI (6hr/ 280 km)
Four of the eight people in this group decided to go overland from BK to Mali despite the incredible fear-mongering we heard from everyone but our guides, who constantly reassured us of the safety. Burkina Faso had had a bloodless coup the week before and all flights to BK from Europe were cancelled preventing two members from joining. Confounding this was the disappearance of a Thai tourist at the Mali border the week before.
With Djenne as the destination, we did not go via the main highway but instead took a roundabout route via Sikasso. Not only were the roads a disaster of potholes the entire way, it was considerably longer.
The border was relatively fast on both sides. With the customary bribes paid by our guides on both sides, each took about half an hour. We all had Mali visas in our passports.
We eventually arrived in San after a long 10-hour driving day.
Le Tata de Sikasso Tentative WHS (19/03/2009). The Tata of Sikasso or tarakoko was built under the reign of Tièba, between 1877 and 1897. The work was enlarged and reinforced by Babemba. At the time of the unsuccessful siege of Samory, lasting fifteen months – from March 1887 to June 1888, it had three concentric enclosures: – the outer tata measuring 9 km, 6m thick at the base and 2m at the top, its height varying between 4 and 6m; – the smaller and less thick intermediate tata, intended to isolate merchants, soldiers and nobles; – the interior enclosure encircling the Dionfoutou, part of the city inhabited by the king and his family.
The fortress is still visible in the current layout of the city of Sikasso through well-preserved sections in the Mancourani, Medina, Wayerma, Bougoula city and Fulaso districts. Monuments in the form of doors (7 in number (seven)) were built in modern materials on the site of the passages of yesteryear to preserve their memory.
The construction of the Tata of Sikasso in the form of a gigantic 9km wall, 6m thick at the base and 2m at the top for a height varying between 4 and 6m, supplemented by two intermediate structures, as well as the construction materials (stones dry land, gravel and banco) testify to the ingenuity and creative genius of the local populations in protecting their culture and their sovereignty.
The Tata of Sikasso is a structure designed and built for the protection of the city. Its size, thickness and the quality of the construction materials gave the Tata a monumental military style. The work, which surrounded an area estimated at 41 ha, owed its dimensions to the successive additions of earth reinforcement walls, bars and alternating stone beds whose intervals were filled with ferruginous gravel, soggy earth and other stones. The Tata of Sikasso was therefore built in a historical, technological and cultural context.
ON San.
Day 6 (Wed, Oct 12): San-Djenne (2.5hr/ 130 km north of San)-Segou (5hr/ 315km east of Segou)
SAN (pop 68,078) town in the Ségou Region 10 km south of the Bani River. San is the center of bògòlanfini production, a traditional Malian fabric.
It was another long morning of driving on bad roads to Djenne.
DJENNÉ
Djenne sits on a large island in the middle of the Bani River and is accessed by bridges on either side. It has dirt roads and all the usual roadside stands.
Old Town of Djenné. World Heritage Site: Djenné is famous for its Sudanese-style architecture. Nearly all of the buildings in the town, including the Great Mosque, are made from sun-baked earthen bricks coated with plaster.
The traditional flat-roofed two-story houses are built around a small central courtyard and have imposing façades with pilaster-like buttresses and an elaborate arrangement of pinnacles forming the parapet above the entrance door. The façades are decorated with bundles of rônier palm (Borassus aethiopum) sticks, called toron, that project about 60 cm from the wall. The toron also serves as readymade scaffolding. Ceramic pipes also extend from the roofline and ensure that the rainwater from the roof does not damage the walls.
Some of the houses built before 1900 are in the Toucouleur style and have a massive covered entrance porch set between two large buttresses. These houses generally have a single small window above the entrance door. Many recent two-story houses are in the Moroccan style and have small ornate windows but lack a covered entrance porch.
The adobe bricks are made on the river bank using a wooded mould and a mixture of earth and chopped straw. They are typically 36 x 18 x 8 cm in size and when laid are separated by 2 cm of mortar. Up to the 1930s hand moulded cylindrical bricks were used called djenné-ferey. All the brickwork is covered with a protective layer of plaster consisting of a mixture of earth and rice husks.
In Djenné, the adobe buildings need to be replastered at least every other year and even then the annual rains can cause serious damage. The Great Mosque is replastered every year and yet in 2009 one of the minarets collapsed after heavy rainfall. The older buildings are often entirely rebuilt. A survey of the town in 1984 identified 134 two-story buildings of significant architectural importance, yet by 1995, despite restrictions resulting from the town’s World Heritage status, 30% of the buildings on the list had been demolished, with most having been replaced with entirely new adobe buildings. Between 1996 and 2003 the Dutch government funded a project to restore around 100 of the older buildings in the town. For some buildings, the restoration work involved little more than replastering the façade while for others it involved demolition and rebuilding. The total cost was 430 million FCFA (655,000 Euro).
In the early 1980s, foreign aid organizations funded a system to supply drinking water to both public taps and private homes. However, no wastewater disposal system was installed at the time and wastewater was discharged into the streets. This was both unsightly and unhygienic. Between 2004 and 2008 the German government funded a project to construct gravel-filled trenches outside each home to allow the wastewater to infiltrate the soil. By 2008 1,880 homes had been provided with these local infiltration systems.
Once a religious and commercial centre to rival Timbuktu, this small town of multi-story mud buildings is quite a sight. It was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO. Seeing Djenné from a rooftop offers an intriguing and unusual landscape, with its soft texture, rounded lines, and melancholic colouring. It also features the largest mosque in the world made completely out of mud, which is restored every year by the community after the rainy season.
We went up to the rooftop of a house across the street for great views and photos of the mosque.
We then all cruised through the small vegetable/fruit market across the street from the mosque. On Mondays, the square is full of vendors for the weekly market.
Manuscript Library. The library has accumulated manuscripts (history, religious, economic) from families all over the city. They store them in cardboard boxes an place them in the glass bookcases surrounding the small room. The librarian showed us one book with Islamic prayers that was nicely illustrated. The second room has a scale model of the mosque, Koran boards and lithographs.
The Great Mosque The Great Mosque is made completely of mud, was made in 1906, and it has five stories and three towers. Argued that the French had little influence except perhaps for the internal arches and that the design is “basically African”. Every spring the people replaster the Mosque. Whatever past prohibitions in entering the mosque, in 2022, there were no problems.
The fees for visiting the inside are 10,000 for entering the mosque and 10,000 for accessing the roof for views of the town. The mosque is very plain with hundreds of columns and woven mats instead of carpet. The female section is on the other side of the courtyard, a narrow unkept space.
The WHS includes the town of Djenné together with the surrounding archaeological sites of Djenné-Djéno, Hambarketolo, Tonomba and Kaniana. Weekly market. Manuscripts library, Tomb of Djenpo.
We went to a small artisanal jewelry workshop. He pulled up a box with a jumble of jewelry. His elderly wife was gorgeous with a nose ring, large earrings and a lovely ring with a triangular stone. Karen and Rheem each bought several pieces. Accessing it was via a series of narrow dirt lanes. Houses discharge their wastewater either into the street are into small concrete infiltration basins outside each house.
On the way back to the centre we met Amadou’s mother and extended family.
After lunch, we continued to Segou on the potholed road. We visited a village with many square granaries. The villagers were welcoming – an ancient lady pounding sorghum, and women cooking and doing their laundry. A huge pig was in a small pen.
ON Segou
Day 7 (Thur, Oct 13): Segou-Bamako (4h/ 235 km west of Segou)
SEGOU (pop 131,000 2009) is a town in south-central Mali 235 kilometres northeast of Bamako on the right bank of the River Niger. Ségou evolved from simple hunting and farming to a more complex city dominated by a dynasty system. Today the town in some ways conserves the tradition and architecture of the ancient city.
The Ségou Region’s population 2,338,349 in 2009. The rural population is largely nomadic semi-sedentary or sedentary with many ethnic groups – Bambara, Bozo, Fulani, Soninke, Malinke, and Toucouleur.
Economy. In Segou pottery and its market (vegetables, pottery, cotton, leather, fruit, ovens, cattle, and cereals). Attractions in the old town of Ségou-Koro included a mosque, Coulibaly’s tomb, and an ancient tree. In the city center, the main landmark is the water tower. Surrounding area: fishing, cattle herding, and small-scale farming (rice pearl millet, sorghum, and black-eyed peas).
French colonial buildings. We walked around the large compound with its many big, white, two-story buildings.
Mud-cloth Bogolan workshop. We had a complete demonstration of dying using natural pigments to produce the red and yellow colours and then painted designs using dark grey mud. After washing the designs were black and colour-fast. The store had a huge collection of cloth. Karen and Rheem both bought several pieces.
Segou Grand Mosque. With a single large square minaret and a nice courtyard, the inside columns were tiles in small gold mosaics.
We boarded a boat for the 1 1/2 hour trip upriver to this village.
Bitòn Coulibaly. Full of adobe buildings and wide lanes, we walked past an old round mud mosque that could not be entered, the Segou-Koro Palace and met the chief, and the older palace dating from 1715-1755. We wandered down to the beach and happened upon the village celebrating their main festival day. Everyone was dressed in all their finery. There was a long line to get into the main mosque, right on the water.
History. The Bambara Empire led by Kaladian Coulibaly was established at Ségou-Koro in the 17th century, 10 km (6.2 mi) upstream of Segou. Danfassari, Koulibaly’s son and eldest grandson Mamari (Biton) ruled the city and made it flourish.
Biton spread terror, organized the army, and restructured the association into a city. He expanded the territory as far as Timbuktu which remained autonomous and paid tribute to Biton. Macina and Djenné were trading centers and part of Ségou.
After Biton’s death in 1755, one of the Coulibaly family slaves, Ngolo Diarra, came to power, established the Diarra dynasty, and moved the kingdom’s capital from Segou-Koro to Ségou-Sikoro, close to the current city. Diarra continued Biton’s conquest and extended the kingdom from Guinea to Timbuktu.
After the village it was a pleasant 3 hour drive t0 Bamako on our first good roads for a week.
ON Temana Hotel for two nights. 29,500/night. Great AC and good food in the restaurant. Karen and Rheem stayed at the Sleeping Camel along with Kach. The hotel was double booked for us and they demanded payment for the rooms EC had neglected to cancel. Richard had already left for Mauritania (and didn’t join Tom Wong).
On arrival at the hotel, we finally met Eric, a large guy with long hair and a beard from Portland. Because of the coup in Ouaga, all flights from North America and Europe were cancelled. One fellow never made it, but Eric was very persistent – he lost all his previous flights and eventually arrived a few hours before us from Abijan. He is a great traveler on his way to 193. He is an Uber driver, works hard for a few months and then takes off on adventures, often to obscure places.
Juliano, Eric and I had fun trading travel stories.
BAMAKO (pop 1,810,400 2006)
The booming capital and largest city of Mali, the fastest growing city in Africa, with a good claim to be the music capital of West Africa. It is located on the Niger River, near the rapids that divide the upper and middle Niger valleys in the southwestern part of the country. The floodplain hampers development along the riverfront and the Niger’s tributaries. Bamako is relatively flat, except to the immediate north where an escarpment is found, being what remains of an extinct volcano. The Presidential Palace and main hospital are located here.
Bamako is the nation’s administrative centre. Bamako’s river port is located in nearby Koulikoro, along with a major regional trade and conference center. Locally manufactured goods include textiles, processed meat, and metal goods. Commercial fishing occurs on the Niger River.
Originally, the traditional commercial center developed on the northern side of the river and is highly congested, polluted, and expensive. But as it grew, bridges were developed to connect the north with the south. A modern central business district is rapidly developing immediately west of the downtown area
Music. A music boom in Bamako took off in the 1990s. It is common to see musicians in the streets with djembes and percussion bands playing traditional Bamana rhythms. Go to https://westafricatravelguide.com/live-music-bamako-mali/ to see an up-to-date guide.
By boat. Navigating the river is possible from Koulikoro to Mopti and Gao. The bush taxi is one of the main modes of transport.
Bamako is situated on both sides of the Niger River and two bridges connect the two banks: the Bridge of Martyrs completed in 1960 and renamed in memory of protesters killed in March 1991 by the regime of Moussa Traoré, and the King Fahd Bridge, named after the Saudi Arabian donor.
Day 8 (Fri, Oct 14)
Instead of going to Siby to see the arch, we all decided to see the city and visited the following sites.
Viewpoint. Bamako has a large hill to the west. We went to a nice viewpoint with views of the entire city. There was a lot of haze but seeing the city layout surrounding the river was worthwhile.
National Museum of Mali. Archeological and anthropological museum, prehistory of Mali, musical instruments, dress, and various ethnic groups. The textile display was excellent with materials from all over the country. Several of the wood carvings were very good.
Cathédrale de Bamako. Tentative WHS, Erected in 1921-1936. It is 48 meters long and 12m wide. It is built of stone in a Byzantine Romanesque style – cylindrical columns and capitals carved with animals or plants. The inside had a worn look and wasn’t very inspiring.
Grand Mosque. With two large minarets, it was Friday and our guide prevented us from entering.
Bamako Artisan Market. We cruised through the fetish market with large displays of animals and skulls. This was my second time here and both times I found it rather disgusting.
We went up to a viewpoint. A store had many masks and jewelry and three people bought masks. One tout with an interesting knife was unbelievably persistant. The market was huge.
Monument de l’Indépendance. In a roundabout, it has arches on four sides rising to a gold onion dome. September 22, 1960, was written on the side.
Peace Monument
BCEAO Tower. 20 stories, the tallest building. Malian headquarters of the Central Bank of West African States. Modelled on the Sudano-Sahelian architecture of the famous mosques of Djenne and Timbuktu.
This area of Mali has several Tentative WHS.
La Cité Historique de Hamdallahi (19/03/2009). Remains of the former capital of the Diina over 246 ha – the remains of the Tata in mud bricks, the Palace of Sékou Amadou surrounded by a stone wall, the mausoleums – new Mosque. The city was created expressly to serve as the capital of a theocratic empire founded in 1819-1821. Entirely fortified with a 5600m perimeter. It had 60 neighbourhoods and a large population. 750 Koranic schools supervised by great scholars.
Despite its abandonment in 1864, Hamdallahi has remained a living site. It is today considered by the members of the community of the Inner Niger Delta as a holy and eternal city. Every year in May or June, it is home to the Ziara, a pilgrimage that brings together many people from Mali, West African countries and Cameroon. This great meeting is marked by several events: reading of the Koran, sermons, evocation of the virtues of Sékou Ahmadou, meditation on the mausoleums and prayer in the mosque.
La Mosquée de Komoguel (19/03/2009). Of Sudanese architectural style, the great mosque of Mopti dates to 1933-35. It is built in place of another dated from 1908. The Mosque covers nearly 100m² and is 15m high. The courtyard is surrounded by a wall 2m40-2m90 high. The roof is supported by massive pillars aligned parallel to the wall of the qibla (the indication of the direction of Mecca).
In the heart of the interior Delta of the Niger River,
Le Bassin du fleuve Niger (du seuil de Markala au lac Débo)
La Réserve de la Biodiversité des éléphants du Gourma Es-Souk (08/09/1999). Gourma in Mali is in 3 regions (Mopti, Timbuktu and Gao) – 83,000 km²), in eastern Mali, between the Niger River and the Burkina Faso border. The Gourma is bounded to the north and east by the Niger River, to the west and south by the hills and cliffs of the Dogon country. Has rock formations, dunes, plains, ponds, lakes and elephants. Extensive cattle, sheep and goats in transhumance, the populations are agro-pastoralists, semi-nomadic herders and transhumant nomads.
Neolithic populations are found, mounds and tumuli (rocks full of meaning (zoomorphic representations, habitats of spirits, etc.). Located in semi-arid and arid zones. Great droughts of 1970. Plant resources weakened as traditional rules of pasture management are called into question by the density of stockbreeding. Conflicts between farmers, pastoralists and the elephants. population of 350 elephants. the only place in the Sahel with elephants. The annual migration follows the large ponds of the area several tens of kilometres
La Boucle du Baoulé (08/09/1999) The Baoule Loop has 1,000,000 ha in four nature reserves (the Boucle du Baoulé National Park, the Fina, Kongossambougou and Badinko reserves). 300 identified archaeological sites.
La Réserve de biodiversité du Parc du Bafing Makana (07/09/2016)
Le Fort de Médine (19/03/2009). Built in 1855 by Faidherbe, an officer of the French army, this was the first military fort in the conquest of French Sudan. On the Senegal River monitor the region between Bakel (in Senegal) and the city of Medina. siege to Medina in 1857.
Le Réservoir naturel du Lac Magui (07/09/2016). Over 78 km long and 15 km wide covering an area of 24,740 hectares, Three rural communes of the Circle of Kayes: Maréna-Diombogou, Ségala and Séro Diamano. thirteen (13) villages.
Water level variations are 3 to 6 meters. The lake is fringed with herbaceous and woody plants, mammals (deer, warthogs, jackals, hyenas), reptiles, fish and water and grain-eating birds. Agricultural activities. Fishing traditional. Only natural reservoir for watering domestic and transhumant livestock in the Region of Kayes.
Day 9 (Sat, Oct 15): Flight Bamako – Noukachott. Mauritania Airlines L6113. 16:30-19:35. We left for the airport at 13:00.
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AN IDEALIZED ITINERARY. This replicates the itinerary of the Nomad Mania group of 2018. On day 1 they went by plane: Timbuktu to Gao to Mopti. From Mopti, the rest was by land, visiting the Dogon villages, then Djenne with its famous mosque and then driving back to Bamako via Segou.
Day 1. Arrive Bamako. Settle into hotel getting ready for early flight in morning.
Day 2. Fly from Bamako to Timbuktu to Gao to Mopti.
Flight 1. Depart 7am, 2 hours to Timbuktu. Takes about 2 hours to see all that there is left as it is a minimally developed place: the old town, Djinguereber Mosque
Sankore Mosque, the calligraphy workshops as well as the famous library of manuscripts.
Flight 2. An hour flight to the eastern city of Gao, the third largest in the country. Four mines in the area make it an important logistical centre. The group was met by a contingent of the local police who followed them in their vehicles.
Tomb of Askia, a World Heritage Site (the tomb of Askia in Gao has also reportedly been destroyed by terrorists), Market, Gao Mosque.
Flight 3. Mopti, more ‘familiar’ territory where tourists do go even today
Day 3. Mopti, Djenne
Dogon Country. Mopti.
Cliff of Bandiagara (Land of the Dogons) World Heritage Site
La Mosquée de Komoguel (19/03/2009)
Mopti. The city is across three islands in the middle of the Niger. (Overnight in Bandiagara, the capital’ of Dogon). See the confluence of the rivers, Farafina Tigne African Bead Museum, Great Mosque, Sirimou Mosque, Sangha with its fascinating cliffs, and Songo with its rock art.
Djenne. Drive and arrive around 4 pm. Tourists can go inside the mosque. See the local library where manuscripts are also collected.
Day 4. Segou
Long drive to Segou. Mali is the third largest city and one-time capital of the Bamana Empire. Hour cruise down the Niger River to Old Segou, lunch onboard. In Segou, see the mud-cloth Bogolan workshop, Bitòn Coulibaly Museum, Segou-Koro Palace (meet the local chief), Segou Grand Mosque, and colonial buildings.
(Overnight Hotel Hambe)
Day 5. Segoukoro, Somono
Segoukoro, a village located on the banks of the river over the centuries was the chosen residence of the Bambara Emperors.
Somono fishermen area. (Overnight Segou, hotel Hambe)
Day 6: Segou-Niger river cruise (two nights three days) – Early in the morning we board our private wooden motorized boat to enjoy leisurely one of the great travel experiences in Mali. Visit Kalabougou Village known for its pottery made by the women and will discover varying villages and friendly locals. (Overnight camping on an island on the river)
Day 7: Niger river cruise – birdwatching, watching life on the banks of the river, meeting Bozo fishermen and Somono boatmen. Stop at villages to observe village life.
(Overnight camping on an island on the river)
Day 8: Niger river cruise – reach Koulikoro in the afternoon. (Overnight Koulikoro, Hotel Nanagaleni).
Day 9: Koulikoro-Bamako
Cave mosque and the koranic school
Drive to Bamako. See some of Bamako. (Overnight Bamako, hotel Tamana)
Day 10: Bamako-Siby
Bamako: National Museum of Mali, Eyoub Mosque, Grand Mosque, Sacred Heart Cathedral, Bamako Zoo, Bamako Artisan Market, Monument de l’Indépendance, Peace Monument
Siby. hike to the Arch of Kamajan and relax by the waterfalls in the afternoon.
(Overnight Siby, hotel Colorado)
Tour guide: alinialy@yahoo.fr. English is impeccable.
Climate: hot semi-arid climate hottest March to May, rainy season May to September. Rainfall 25 inches. The harmattan is the dominant wind in the dry season and it blows from north to south. During the dry season, rainfall is scarce: virtually none falls between November and April due to the dominance of the Saharan anticyclone and the dry trade winds.
SEE
World Heritage Sites
Cliff of Bandiagara (Land of the Dogons)
Old Towns of Djenné
Timbuktu
Tomb of Askia.
TIMBUKTU (Tombouctou). The legendary Saharan city of gold, trans-Saharan trade, and Islamic scholarship is nowadays a (fairly commercialized) centre of Tuareg culture. The name isn’t the only reason to visit; the town itself is a unique Tuareg desert trading center.
Tragically, the famous shrines of Timbuktu and the Muhave have been largely destroyed by a radical Islamist group during their occupation of Timbuktu. The first round of destruction was carried out around June-July 2012 article and shortly after plans for the AU intervention were approved, they vowed to destroy every remaining mausoleum, shrine, & “blasphemous” (in their view) icon.
Djinguereber Mosque
Sankore Mosque
Tentative WHS: La Réserve de la Biodiversité des éléphants du Gourma
GAO
A small city on the Niger in the far east, one-time capital of the Songhai Empire.
Gao Mosque
Tomb of Askia. World Heritage Sites. The tomb of Askia in Gao has also reportedly been destroyed.
The dramatic 17-m pyramidal structure of the Tomb of Askia was built by Askia Mohamed, the Emperor of Songhai, in 1495 in his capital Gao. It bears testimony to the power and riches of the empire that flourished in the 15th and 16th centuries through its control of the trans-Saharan trade, notably in salt and gold. It is also a fine example of the monumental mud-building traditions of the West African Sahel. The complex, including the pyramidal tomb, two flat-roofed mosque buildings, the mosque cemetery and the open-air assembly ground, was built when Gao became the capital of the Songhai Empire and after Askia Mohamed had returned from Mecca and made Islam the official religion of the empire.
Rounded forms result from the regular renewal of the layer of plaster eroded each winter by the rare but violent rains. The pyramidal form, central minaret and the length and shape of the pieces of wood that make up the permanent scaffolding, give the Tomb of Askia its distinctive and unique architectural characteristics.
ESSOUK Tentative WHS: (08/09/1999) is a commune and small village in the Kidal Region of Mali – 45 km northwest of Kidal. The commune is very large in area but sparsely populated. The 2009 census recorded only 2,383 people in an area of approximately 25,000 km2. The village of Essouk has only a small permanent population. The rainfall is too low for rain-fed agriculture and almost all the population in the area are nomadic pastoralists.
The ruins of the medieval town of Tadmakka lie 2 km northeast of the present village. Between the 9th and the 15th centuries, Tadmekka served as an important entrepôt for the trans-Saharan trade. For caravans travelling south, the town served as the last stopping place before entering the Sudan. It is sometimes referred to as the “cradle of Tuareg civilization”. The annual Saharan Nights festival showcases traditional Tuareg music.
Rock faces on either side of the valley contain petroglyphs as well as inscriptions written using either the kufic or tifinagh scripts. Some of the Arabic inscriptions include 11th-century dates and others more than eight thousand years old.
MOPTI and DOGON COUNTRY
Mopti is the gateway to Dogon Country. Most of Mali’s travel riches are concentrated in this region: unique rock formations at Hombori, the architecture of Djenné, and the unbelievable escarpment villages of Dogon Country
Dogon Country —a trek through this landscape of scattered cliff-side villages is not to be missed by any Mali visitor. The famous Bandiagara Escarpment is a World Heritage Site
World Heritage Sites
Cliff of Bandiagara (Land of the Dogons)
Old Towns of Djenné
Tentative WHS
La Mosquée de Komoguel (19/03/2009)
Le Bassin du fleuve Niger (du seuil de Markala au lac Débo)
Great Mosque of Niono
MOPTI
The city is across three islands in the middle of Niger.
Farafina Tigne African Bead Museum
Great Mosque
Sirimou Mosque
Adrar des Ifoghas — a sandstone plateau in the Sahara home to rock paintings, salt mines operated for centuries, and a surprising array of wildlife.
Niger Inland Delta where the Niger splits into many rivers across a broad floodplain, forms a giant lake on the edge of the desert during the rainy season.
Stay Safe
Mali is politically unstable and therefore lawlessness is widespread. Since a 2012 civil war, the country is in two parts: the northeast “Azawad” controlled by Islamist rebels, and the south experienced a military junta. Travelling in Timbuktu and Gao provinces has been particularly extremely dangerous. Always carry a copy of your passport and visa.
A murky alliance of Al Qaeda and Tuareg rebel groups have been targeting foreigners for kidnappings.
Get In
By plane. Air France daily Paris. Royal Air Maroc from Europe and New York via Casablanca. Also Point Afrique to & from Mali. TAP Portugal daily from Lisbon.
African: Ethiopian Airlines, Air Mauritania, Tunisair, Air Afriqiya.
Airport 20 minutes from Bamako.
Get Around
By bus. Bamako, Segou, San, Mopti, Gao. Mopti (600km, half way 9 hours; Gao at least 12.
By taxi – Brousse. – bush taxis provide the main connection between towns that aren’t connected via bus. They are very slow, break down or stop often
There are few asphalt roads, all single-lane outside towns, though most are in good condition. North from Bamako, Segou, San, Mopti and Gao), west from Segou to cross the Niger at the Markala dam and Niono, Bamako to Sikasso and Ivory Coast.
By plane. Mopti, Timbuktu, Kayes, Yelimané, Gao, Kidal, Sadiola, and others.
Société Transport Aerienne (STA) and Société Avion Express (SAE) are the two most popular, and most reliable, carriers.
By boat. Very seasonal in the wet season, is a barge to/from Timbuktu, Mopti and Gao. Also “pirogues” anywhere, essentially large canoes.
Accommodation. Sleeping on the roof terrace, if available, is the cheapest but also usually the coolest sleeping under the stars, which are incredibly bright outside of Bamako because there is so little light pollution. However, use a mosquito net and be prepared to wake to a prayer call at 05:00.
Health
Vaccinations. Yellow fever is required. Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, typhoid, and meningitis vaccinations are recommended.
