Edition 43: Summer 2008

Since the first words of Mali’s riches trickled into Europe centuries ago, the country and its enigmatic Saharan stronghold Timbuktu have had a place in the imagination of almost every explorer. While Mali has as much to offer as ever, visiting now is thankfully much easier than in the days of legendary Leo Africanus. Anthony Ham, desert lover and Lonely Planet author, explores the nation’s treasures and provides you with tips and itineraries for your own adventure.

There’s nowhere in the world quite like Mali. The attractions of this landlocked West African country read like a roll call of African travel icons – Timbuktu, the Dogon Country, Djenné, the Niger River and the Sahara – whose names resonate with epic historical tales. Mali also spans a vast range of West African landscapes, from the dunes and desert massifs in the north to the Sahel and savannah in the south.

It is often said that Africa’s beauty and greatest fascination rarely reside in its burgeoning cities, but Mali turns such assumptions on their head. Timbuktu, that most famous byword for the middle of nowhere, may be crumbling and coated in dust, but it has never lost its lure as a Saharan outpost without peer – it maintains its cachet as the ultimate destination, far beyond where the paved roads peter out. Djenné, with its astonishing mud-built mosque and Monday market is magical and wonderfully tranquil, while the Mopti remains one of Africa’s greatest river ports. And although Bamako will never win a beauty contest, some fine riverside views notwithstanding, it vies with Dakar as West Africa’s live-music capital, with many of Mali’s world-famous musicians taking the stage most nights of the week.

In Mali, the journey is also the destination. Between sleepy Ségou and remote Gao, slow boats up the grand old Niger River take you through the heartlands of Mali’s multifarious ethnic groups – Bambara, Bozo, Fulani and Songhaï – and deep into landscapes of African legend. Not far beyond the river’s shores, trekking through Dogon Country takes you beyond the clamour of civilisation and into an Africa that time seems to have forgotten. Away to the north, the semi-nomadic Tuareg stand ready to take you by camel into the sands, beyond even Timbuktu, and deep into the largest, most beautiful desert on earth.

Ségou
Languid Ségou is one of the most enjoyable towns along the Niger riverbank. With decaying colonial buildings beneath an honour guard of trees and the excellent Festival Sur le Niger in February that draws some of Mali’s best-loved musicians, Ségou deserves as much time as you can spare. Excursions along the river to historic villages nearby, especially Ségou Koro or Old Ségou, also help make this the sort of place where most people end up staying longer than planned, savouring lazy days by the water’s edge.

Niger River
The Niger River runs for 1626km (more than one third of its entire length) through Mali, and is a constant companion during your visit to the country. Navigable between Koulikoro (near Bamako) and Gao from August to November, the Niger can be explored by passenger ferry, pinasse or cargo boat. In short, this is one of Africa’s great journeys. The most popular stretch runs from Mopti to Korioumé (the port for Timbuktu) and takes you past the seasonal fishing villages of the Bozo, splendid riverside mosques and across one of Africa’s largest inland deltas.

Bamako
Mali’s capital is too often bypassed by travellers in the rush to reach the better-known sites, but Bamako is one of West Africa’s more agreeable larger cities. Splendid hotels and restaurants make it the ideal place to rest from life on the African road. The outstanding National Museum and vibrant markets that sprawl across the centre provide plenty of daytime entertainment. But it is Bamako’s nightlife – where else in the world can you hear world-class musicians perform live in your local neighbourhood bar? – that really sets the city apart. The all-night soundtrack can be hard to resist. 

Timbuktu
Once the most sought-after city in Africa, fabulously wealthy Timbuktu stood at the centre of trans-Saharan caravan routes and was one of the most prestigious seats of learning in the Islamic World. Its glory days may have long ago passed, but Timbuktu retains a ramshackle charm with its historic mosques, libraries of ancient manuscripts and homes of 19th-century explorers. The latter stand witness to our fascination with this most elusive of Africa’s legendary cities. Its location at the intersection of the Sahara and Niger River has also given rise to an intriguing mosaic of cultures in the otherwise empty lands of the southern Sahara.

Djenné
The Great Mosque of Djenné towers over the enchanting tangle of adobe houses of the old town – a worthy recipient of UNESCO’s World Heritage status. The largest mud-built building in the world, the mosque is a forest of turrets and wooden struts. It provides the stunning backdrop to Djenné’s Monday market, one of West Africa’s most colourful and one which draws traders from all across the region. By Tuesday, Djenné is once again the intimate riverside town whose quiet lanes have the quality of a medieval labyrinth.

The Sahara
Northern Mali is given over to the Sahara, and there are few more gruelling Saharan journeys than the camel trek north from Timbuktu, through sand-smothered Araouane and on to the salt mines of Taoudenni. For those hoping more for a taste than deep desert immersion, overnight camel treks from Timbuktu to a Tuareg camp are also possible and far less taxing, while the Festival in the Desert at Essakane, 50km from Timbuktu, in early January, is one of the world’s best music festivals.

Mopti
A roiling port city on the banks of the Niger, Mopti is one of Mali’s most important gateway towns for travellers – it’s also a hub for Malians. The banks are full of frenetic activity, with fish and slabs of Saharan salt moving to and fro. Boats run from here to Djenné and Timbuktu, while those heading to the Dogon Country will also find themselves passing through. For those who linger a little longer, Mopti has considerable charms of its own, foremost among which is watching the sunset out over the Niger from a riverside bar amid the colourful boats of Mopti’s fishing fleet.

Gao
Gao is one of the most isolated cities on earth. It may lie far from the centres of African power today and its lure may derive from the fact that it sits 350km beyond Timbuktu, but Gao was for centuries the capital of the Songhaï Empire whose realm reached across much of West Africa. These days Gao offers the spectacular Dune Rose (Pink Dune) overlooking the river, the terrific Museum of the Sahel, the World Heritage-listed Tomb of the Askia and a melting pot of cultures on the frontier of the Sahara.

Dogon Country
For centuries protected from the outside world by the Falaise de Bandiagara, the escarpment to which many Dogon villages cling, the Pays Dogon (Dogon Country) has held on to its intricate cultural traditions, evocative art forms and postcard-pretty architecture like nowhere else in Mali. The only way to fully explore the Dogon world, which stretches for almost 150km from Bankass in the south to Douentza in the northeast, is on foot, trekking from village to village amid the great stands of baobabs and pools of sacred crocodiles.