Finally going! End of next month, been for the vaccinations, about to book the flights and have already reserved a fabulous hotel the first and last weekend in Bamako, relax, swim, hit the clubs, visit the market and the museum, then on first of February to Segou for this!!
Destination at a glance: Mali
View galleryBoys sitting in front of a Coca Cola sign.
Antony Giblin
Lonely Planet Photographer
View gallery
If you could only visit one country in West Africa, Mali would be a prime candidate. Few countries in the region can boast such an array of sights, from fabled Timbuktu and the mysterious Dogon Country to riverside mosques that seem to spring from a child’s imagination. Adding considerable depth to these attractions is Mali’s illustrious history, a story of ancient gold-rich empires along the Sahara’s southern fringe that has yielded to a stable West African democracy famed for the largely peaceful coexistence of its multifarious ethnic groups. And accompanying you on your journey through the country will be Mali’s world-famous musical soundtrack, a beguiling playlist of soulful desert blues, ancient griot tunes and frenetic dance rhythms.
BEST TIME TO VISIT
October to February (before the heat, after the rains)
TOP THINGS TO SEE
• Djenné’s breathtaking Grand Mosque and colourful Monday market
• The legendary (yet humble) city of Timbuktu crouching amid the Saharan sands
• Bamako’s live music venues where Mali’s master musicians play
• The sleepy riverside town of Ségou with its wonderful music festival and bogolan (mud cloth) workshops
• The deliciously remote city of Gao, with sunset views from a towering riverside dune
TOP THINGS TO DO
• Trek down off the Bandiagara Escarpment and into the timeless villages of the Dogon Country
• Ride a camel out into the Sahara and spend a night in a Tuareg camp close to Timbuktu
• Travel on a slow boat up the Niger River from Mopti to Timbuktu
• Track down the Sahel’s last elephants in northeastern Mali
• Dance under stars in the Festival in the Desert, the world’s most remote music festival
GETTING UNDER THE SKIN
Read Ségu by Maryse Condé, a sweeping generational tale that captures the essence of Malian history and its ethnic groups
Listen to Tinariwen, Toumani Diabaté, Amadou and Mariam, the late Ali Farka Touré, Salif Keita, Oumou Sangaré…the list is endless
Watch Yeleen by Souleymane Cissé, which won the Special Jury Prize at Cannes in 1987
Eat capitaine (Nile Perch)
Drink bissap or djablani juice (brewed from hibiscus petals); Castel (Malian beer)
IN A WORD
Bonjour, ça va? (Hello, how are you?)
TRADEMARKS
Mud architecture; the Mali and Songhaï empires of the Middle Ages; the ancient manuscripts of Timbuktu; Bambara woodcarvings and bogolan cloth
RANDOM FACT
King Kankan Musa of the Mali Empire distributed so much gold en route to Mecca in the 14th century that it was a generation before the world gold price recovered.
Sigh, trying to get stuff organised from here in Mali is tiring!!
The embassy is permanently out to lunch!! No email reply, don't pick up the phone, no website (for downloading visa application), looks like a trip to Brussels is on the cards (as if I have the time and money for that!), and only open from 9 - 12, so up in the night then to catch the train
tho a friend said she would drive me down but not sure if that will happen cos she's very busy
Don't even remember from last time how long the visa application takes! Hopefully there and then! Wish you could just get it at the airport on arrival like Bali!!
They're obviously on African time! Someone in Africa said to me "In Europe you have the clock, in Africa we have the time"!!
But the excitement of the organisation too!! (and the idea of being in 30+* heat - bliss! after this winter!)
Have a look at the amazing photos 3rd and 4th from the bottom on this!! OMG! the ladies I've seen, last time, but the guy!!! what a hat!!!
We will be going to Dogon Country because we have family there, one of the most fascinating African tribes, they have a five day week for instance and have an amazing cosmology and beautiful artifacts (there's a collection in a museum in New York) and twins are very special in their culture
Sadly, no, not at the port of entry, you have to get it in advance, put the "visa-service" onto it, pay for it, but no hassle and probably cheaper than going to the embassy (in Brussels, only one in Europe, Washington the only one in USA)
We already got all the vaccinations (and Malarone for the malaria), we're good for 10 years!
You going to Maroc? Wonderful! We are flying RAM (Royal Air Maroc), so I'll wave as we pass over on the way home!
Or maybe Egypt? Also on my to-do list!
Just dug up some old mails about Mali, this one is amazing, about the preservation of the old Timbuctu manuscripts from the middle ages (famous university and intellectual centre in those times)
(Interesting that Tunisia is involved, riots going on there now)
These guys were down there for a wedding, to a local girl, he worked there for an NGO, and his childhood friend came as best man, they were in a restaurant when they got taken:
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