Travel to Timbuktu, Djenne, Dogon country, Mopti and Bamako, in Mali,
the jewel of West Africa
- riverboat sailing on the Niger River, from Mopti to Timbuktu
- camel caravan excursions on the dunes of the Sahara Desert, to visit Tuareg villages
- hiking and camping in Dogon country, on the Bandiagara Escarpment
- traditional dances in Dogon, Bambara and Tuareg villages
        
      
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 Welcome to Mali !
Mali is known as the jewel in the crown of West Africa; it is culturally and historically rich, but economically poor. You will be warmly welcomed, but do not be surprised by the "Third World" infrastructure and conditions. Visiting Mali, and West Africa in general, is a soft adventure holiday, not a luxury vacation.
Dogon country is home of one of the most fascinating cultures in Africa. The Dogon people have retained much of their original culture and still practice their traditional beliefs. Funerary mask dances are still performed at the end of mourning periods, to encourage the spirit of a loved one to depart the village and join the ancestors. The Dogon people fled their original homeland to escape the spread of Islam, and settled in and around the cliffs of the Bandiagara escarpment. Agriculturalists, they practice subsistence farming on the plateau above the cliffs and on the plain below. The difficult terrain made an insular people isolated even from each other, and over the generations each village formed a cultural island and developed its own dialect, often incomprehensible to its neighbors. Today there are some 50 distinct versions of spoken Dogon.Photo: Dogon village on the cliffs
Djenne was the sister-city of Timbuktu during its glory days, and it remains largely unchanged—a city of mud-brick houses lining narrow, winding streets. Formerly an important river port and a center of learning and Islamic culture, Djenne is now best-known for its weekly market, which draws thousands of local people to trade their goods, and for its Great Mosque, the largest mud-brick building in the world, originally built in the XVIIIth century and another of Unesco's World Heritage sites. Mopti was and remains a commercial center. It is the melting pot of Mali, where many ethnic groups come to trade: Bambara, Malinke, Fulani, Bobo, Bozo, Dogon, Songhai, Tuareg and Hausa cultures.Photo: Djenne's Great Mosque
Mali's entry requirements:
See our Travel Tips page for Mali Embassy contact information, to apply for your tourism visa. ClimateOctober through March: dry and relatively cool
April through June: dry and hot
July through September: rainy
NB: The rainy season (July - September) can be a very pleasant time to visit Mali — when it rains it doesn't last all day, nor does it rain every day; and the countryside is lush and green (dust-free).
For a current weather forecast, click the city name below: (this will take you to an external site) Bamako Gao Segou Mopti Timbuktu (Back to top of page) Time zoneMali is on Greenwich Mean Time (GMT or UTC)
GMT = Eastern Standard time +5 hrs, Pacific time +8 hrs
GMT = Eastern Daylight Savings time +4 hrs, Pacific time +7 hrsDistancechart and approximate driving times Essentially, distances are long, roads are narrow and rough (even though most are paved).A typical two-week tour covers some 1800 km (over 1100 miles) of driving. Bamako to Sikasso 375 km 235 miles 4½ hours
Bamako to Segou 235 km 150 miles 3 hours
Bamako to Djenne 570 km 355 miles 7 hours + ferry crossing
Bamako to Mopti 640 km 400 miles 7½ hours
Segou to Djenne 335 km 205 miles 4 hours + ferry crossing
Segou to Mopti 405 km 250 miles 4½ hours
Sevare to Mopti 12 km 8 miles 10 minutes
Mopti to Bandiagara 75 km 50 miles 40 minutes
Mopti to Sangha 120 km 75 miles 2 hours(45 km unpaved)
Mopti to Djenne 130 km 80 miles 1½ hours + ferry crossing
Mopti to Timbuktu 550 km 345 miles 6 hours + ferry crossing(365 km unpaved)
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CommunicationsCommunication into and out of Mali can be difficult, as the telephone system is antiquated and cannot keep up with the demands made on it. Daily contact with home is possible, but not guaranteed.There are many cybercafes in Bamako and other capital cities, and a few in the larger towns; email is quite reliable. Cell phones are very common in all cities, but there is no network in rural areas. To learn if your cell phone will work in West Africa, contact your service provider. Mali's country code is 223; there are no city codes ElectricityElectricity is 220 volts/50 hertz; electrical plugs are the of type used in France, with two round prongs (three round prongs on grounded plugs).See World Electric Guide for more information and photos. (Back to top of page) Mali's holidays
Malian arts, crafts, souvenirsMalians are extremely creative and you will find a wide variety of hand-made items:
PhotographyThere are no photography permits, but some subjects are considered sensitive and not to be photographed: government buildings, airports, bridges and dams, police, military personnel or equipment. And like anywhere else, sometimes people just don't want to be photographed, especially in Muslim countries such as Mali, because the Koran prohibits making human likenesses.Always ask before you snap. Money and Credit cardsThe local currency is called 'CFA' and is utilized in several other West African countries, namely: Burkina Faso, Niger, Benin, Togo, Ivory Coast and Senegal.Foreign exchange: Euros and USDollars are readily exchangeable in Bamako. Travelers checks are also exchangeable (with a variable commission of 5-20%), but not as readily as cash. In the interior of Mali, cash may also be exchanged (not quite as easily as in Bamako), but travelers checks probably not. NB: Large cash denominations ($100, 100€, 200€, 500€) are preferred and provide a better exchange rate than smaller bills. Travelers checks: there is a variable 5-20% commission on all travelers checks. **Be prepared for lengthy procedures to exchange travellers checks, and be sure to have your purchase receipt — some banks and exchange bureaus will not exchange travellers checks without the purchase receipt. Credit cards: Please note that credit cards are very little used in Mali's cash economy — only at a few banks, large hotels and restaurants in Bamako. Visa credit card is usually the only card accepted, and sometimes, MasterCard or American Express; despite American Express' publicity, it is not widely utilized in Mali. In the interior of the country, do not count on using credit cards at all. It is nevertheless a good idea to bring a Visa credit card for emergency use in Bamako. There is one ATM in Mali, located in Bamako. It accepts only Visa credit card, and gives a maximum cash advance of 200,000 CFA (approximately $400). There are also Western Union outlets in Bamako, Sikasso, Kayes, Segou, Mopti, and Timbuktu, where cash can be transferred and accessed the same day. Click here to access a currency converter now. MALI Facts and StatisticsCapital: Bamako Area: 1,240,192 km2 (roughly three times the size of California)
Population: 12,000,000 (est. 2007); annual growth rate 2.7% Life expectancy at birth: 49.5 years total (47.6 for males; 51.5 for females) [CIA Factbook 2008)] Birth rate in 2007: 49.6 births per 1,000; total fertility rate 7.4 children per woman [CIA Factbook 2008] Infant mortality: 106 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2007.[CIA Factbook, 2008] Population density: 11 persons per km2 Religions: Islam 90%, Christianity 5%, Traditional beliefs 10%
Languages:
Ethnic Groups: Life Expectancy: 47 years (men), 48 years (women) (UN) Literacy Rate: 40% Urbanization: 28% Yearly per capita income: $531 USD (IMF 2008) Principal exports: cotton, gold, leather and animal skins, fruit and vegetables, sheep, cattle, grain Principal imports: petroleum products, agricultural inputs, pharmaceuticals, vehicles
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