Mali 2002 » Special

Best Adventure Holidays in Mali

admin — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 20:45:23 +0000

A stable country of famous history empires and seemingly endless deserts, Mali is on of West Africa’s most fascinating destinations. A land of contrasts, from the arid inhospitable deserts of the north to the green and tree-lined savannahs of the south, Mali offers a wealth of sites for adventure travellers. Despite its size, the highlights of Mali can be visited in a couple of weeks on of one many adventure holidays in Mali.

Adventure holidays in Mali range from cultural journeys to desert safaris and offer a fascinating insight to this often overlooked West African country. Some of the best adventure holidays in Mali are those that visit the infamous city of Timbuktu. Timbuktu is steeped in history and offers travellers architectural attractions that include exquisitely beautiful mosques and tombs that date to the medieval era. A visit here is often the highlight of any holiday in Mali.

However, other popular adventure holidays in Mali involve such activities as visiting the Dogon Country; a wilderness of rock, shrub, barren sands and traditional villages, camel riding, desert camping, attending cultural festivals like Essakane Festival, and enjoying a river cruise along the famous Nile from Mopti; an active river port town to Timbuktu; the renowned historic city.

It’s also possible to do an overland tour where you can combine a holiday in Mali with a holiday in countries such as Senegal, Gambia, Benin, Togo, Mauritania and Burkina Faso as well. This is the ultimate West African adventure.

Adventure holidays here are not as numerous as in other African destinations but your rewards for visiting this beautiful country will be huge.

History of the Marka Masks of Mali West Africa The masks of the Marka (a Mande subgroup) originated in...
Cinemas in Mali f you like to go to the cinema to see...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Festival in the Desert

admin — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 09:18:18 +0000

Festival in the Desert is a world-renowned, three-day music festival held in the desert village of Essakane, about 45 miles northeast of the legendary city of Timbuktu in Mali. Music lovers travel from all over the world to experience this exotic, one-of-a kind event in the Sahara Desert.

Desert Festival

Many Tuareg tribespeople attend Festival in the Desert, some traveling for weeks by camel for the privilege of taking part in this annual event. Surrounded by men donning colorful head-wear, women draped in flowing fabrics and gold, too many camels to count, and sand as far as the eye can see, this is truly a look into the “real Mali” for foreign travelers.

During the three days of the festival, camel rides and races, traditional singing and games, expos and conferences take place during the day. In the evenings, over 40 groups will perform an extraordinary mix of traditional, modern, and Western music.

Festival in the Desert is so compelling that it has attracted artists as diverse as Mali’s most popular female singer Oumou Sangare, desert blues performer Ali Farka Toure, one of the world’s top kora players Toumani Diabate, Native American rock group Blackfire, French rap group Kwal, English rocker Robert Plant formerly of Led Zeppelin, and Malian political rock band Tinariwen.

The eighth edition of Festival in the Desert is slated for January 10-12, 2008, and continually gains momentum and recognition. As such, a feature article on the festival titled “Showtime in the Sahara” is running in the July 2007 issue of Vanity Fair Magazine.

Best Adventure Holidays in Mali A stable country of famous history empires and seemingly...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Considering some issues

admin — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 16:17:49 +0000

After tumbling off a car on rent one should make certain that the billing starts from that time. This is because there are a number of agencies that charges on 24 hour clock system. This happens even if the renting was finished in less than 24hours per day. Internationally there are discounts that are proffered on renting of the car like discount on credit card, discount on AAA, discount on senior citizen and also discount to the frequent flyer. These are the common discounts that are offered to the rental of the cars through companies like car hire Lyon Cityand car hire Marseille Airport. If someone notices that is competent in getting the discounts, should not take no for an answer so as to be offered. There are things that are to be considered when booking the hire car in advance as the size of the luggage and the number of the group that the customer is going with. In case the size of the luggage is small and also the group is small, the car to be well thought-out should be a small one otherwise a roomier car should be hired if the size of the luggage and the group of people are big and these are all taken a very good care of by the system of car hire france.

Car hire in Portugal To make the most of any holiday or a business trip...
Luggage for Your Trip Whenever you will go on your trip, a nice luggage...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Cinemas in Mali

admin — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 16:05:58 +0000

l Waiting

If you like to go to the cinema to see the latest films, there are a number of cinemas dotted around Bamako of varying degrees of comfort. Last week we went to see the new Harry Potter at the Babemba cinema here in Bamako. This cinema is a good option if you want to see one of the latest American/European films. It’s not far from the centre of town, near the French Cultural Centre so you should be able to get a taxi take you there easily. The seats are comfy, although you do tend to sink into them. It’s also air-conditioned. The films start in the big auditorium (500 seats) for the first week and then move to the little one (50 seats). They start from Tuesday at 9pm with the newest film. Wednesday has shows at 4pm (for kids) and 9pm; Thursday at 9pm; Friday at 4pm (kids,) 9pm, and 11pm; Saturday at 4pm, 6.30pm, 9pm, and 11pm; and Sunday at 4pm, 6.30pm, and 9pm. There are no shows on Mondays. They do produce a little booklet each month, but they’re rather rare and difficult to find. The costs range from 750cfa to 2,000cfa depending on the time of the showing.

In the Badalabougou area, the Palais de la Culture shows Malian cultural films from time to time. The upcoming films are shown on posters put up around town. Some of the hotels have their own cinemas. But bear in mind that there are very few English language films shown here.

The Hotel Amitié (Sofitel) shows regular French language films and, occasionally, English films. These are advertised in the Hotel foyer.

There are a large number of local cinemas. In the commercial quarter, there are the Club, the Vox, and the Rex cinemas. These show mostly French language films. In the Oulofobougou quarter, the Soudan Ciné and the Bademba cinemas show French films. In Médina, Coura the El Hilal and the Salle Omnisport also show films. In Lafiabougou, the Banankokou shows French films and in Badialan, the ABC shows French films.

One other option if you want to see English films is to go to the American Marine House on Friday nights. The films shown are of varying quality but they are advertised in The Griot, which is an email newsletter that the American Embassy sends out. If you register at the Embassy (if you are a USA citizen) you will be told about it. Non-Americans can go with American friends. These films start at 8pm and there are happy hour drinks from 6 to 7pm. There are lots of video shops around town where you can rent videos and DVDs. DVDs are always a good option because most of the French ones have an English option.

Best Adventure Holidays in Mali A stable country of famous history empires and seemingly...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Artinasat and Fetish Market

admin — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 14:51:38 +0000

Like a lot of buildings in Bamako, this low Sudanese style market could do with a lick of paint, if only to highlight its presence in the clutter of numerous surrounding pavement stalls. Enclosed within its walls are a variety of workshops and stalls all producing and selling local handicrafts.

Artinasat and Fetish Market

The quality of the workmanship is variable, but the prices reasonable. There is a reasonable, but not unbearable, amount of hassling goes on. The range of goods on display is fairly comprehensive and the market is a good place to get an idea of what’s available, and rough price guides BEFORE setting off round Mali.It’s also a good place for last minute shopping before leaving Mali. It will almost certainly be your introduction to the tribe of ‘Bon Prix’! You will find that nearly everyone who tries to sell you something in Mali is called ‘Monsieur Le Bon Prix’ and you can guarantee that his prices are the lowest to be found in the country despite what his fellow ‘Bon Prix’ tells you.

The problem with this and most touristy type shopping areas in Mali is that if you look at something for more than a nanosecond then you’re immediately subject to a sales pitch that’s positively exhausting. I spent ages trying to convince one shopkeeper that some of us would be more likely to buy something if we were left to browse quietly. I did discover, however, one way of alleviating the problem. Find out when there’s an important football match playing on TV and go to the Artisanat while the game is on. At least half the shopkeepers and craftsmen are huddled around the TV sets that have been brought out into the central courtyard, and they wouldn’t notice if the Martians had landed. You can almost browse at your leisure then. Unfortunately, they’re not such big footie fans in the fetish market and browsing is discouraged, in some cases aggressively. Yes, the shrivelled dead things and lumps of stuff for sale make a wonderful photo opportunity but that’s not the attraction. It’s the fact that you are staring at the unknown and you want to find out some answers.

What do you do with a dead cat-like animal? What is that ground up brown powder and what do you do with it? Why is that man yelling at me to go away? A visit to the fetish market can be slightly unnerving so I wouldn’t call it a ‘must see’. It is however, an interesting experience and would love to find out more about the uses of some of the things for sale.

Medina Coura Market Imagine a riot of colours and aromas. Street calls,...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Timbuktu Sights & Attractions

admin — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 14:46:50 +0000

Timbuktu Explorers House

The days when Timbuktu was a fabulous and virtually impossible to reach city are now gone. Nevertheless, in my opinion, it is still a very intriguing place, and spending time exploring it revealed several attractions that are worthy of attention.Perhaps the single greatest pleasure of spending time in the area is wandering around, and getting lost in, the old town’s veritable maze of narrow streets and alleys that feature traditional mud-brick architecture and distinctive sights such as the communal bread ovens. In addition to being the most picturesque and atmospheric quarter, it is also home to the majority of the main attractions.

The district’s three venerable mosques are a large part of the reason that Timbuktu is on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, even though none are in particularly good repair or as beautiful as some counterparts elsewhere. The Djingareiber is the most antiquated and only one that is generally accessible by tourists. The relatively nearby Sidi Yéhia dates from the start of the 15th century and takes its name from one of the most important local saints. Aside from a fine decorative main door, it has very few points of interest, and although the best preserved of the trio, is probably also the least appealing. More attractive is the Sankoré, the newest at only 500 years old, which was apparently built to resemble the Ka’bah in Mecca, and was once among the leading Islamic seats of learning anywhere in the world.

Also scattered around the historic core are the former houses of European explorers who succeeded in getting to the mysterious city during the 1800s. Each is marked with a wall plaque, and most are now simply residences, although Rene Caillié’s erstwhile residence is ramshackle, whilst that of Heinrich Barth contains a small amount of pertinent exhibits.

Meanwhile, there is a small ethnographic museum in the same vicinity, which exhibits various antique artefacts, including jewellery and furniture. Perhaps more interesting is the collection of colonial era black and white photographs, and also the Well of Bouctou in the courtyard, which is said to be where the name of the city derives from.

Elsewhere, there are several markets, two of which cater to locals, selling foodstuffs, cloths, utensils and so on. However, the relatively new covered artisans’ establishment is primarily for tourists, with souvenirs such as swords and silverwork of variable quality on offer. It is also possible to watch craftsmen at work at the Diem Tendé workshop, which has an impressive reputation, and has purportedly been in continuous operation for very many generations.

Another recent addition to the landscape is the Flame of Peace, which is located on the boundary between the desert and the settlement. Commemorating the end of the Tuareg uprising in the mid 1990s, a mock fire sits atop its concrete arches, symbolising the burning of decommissioned weapons, some of which are set in the pedestal.

The Top Ten Travel Sights of Africa It is difficult to list a top ten African travel...
Best Adventure Holidays in Mali A stable country of famous history empires and seemingly...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Zebala Houses

admin — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 14:40:53 +0000

Zebala Houses

Virtually every house in Zebala is built from mud brick. The bricks are then plastered over with a mud plaster to make the outside smooth. A corrugated tin roof is then put on top. All the houses are interlinked by passages and walk ways. It’s very difficult to decide where one family unit’s set of houses finish and another’s begin. There are few walls round groups of houses. Finding one’s way around is a real adventure and I got lost lots of times trying to find the little shop only yards from where I was living! Shops are not marked, they look like any other building, but usually you can tell them by the people going in and out. Inside, there are a few shelves with things like tinned tomato concentrate, little boxes of Chinese green tea (called gunpowder), twists of sugar, sachets of washing powder .. and .. amazingly .. boxes of chewing gum!People live outside their houses and use the house itself for storage and sleeping. The insides are very dark. There are often window openings with a shutter of corrugate, but these are more often left closed than open.

Outside the houses people sit on low stools and cook, or make things. All life happens in the small courtyards between houses. Often the cooking is done on an open fire with a pot hanging or standing on three stones. There are wells dotted around and there is a constant flow of people to these bringing water to compounds. Washing is laid on walls, on the ground and any other free space, and the dust is shaken off when it is dry.

Children wander around, many little ones with few clothes on. Older girls help their mothers with the cooking and other chores. The boys are free to play.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Monday Market

admin — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 12:59:24 +0000

Monday Market

It’s a glorious riot of activity, colour, and noise, that’s what it’s like. Not unlike most markets in Mali in fact. What makes this market special is the imposing backdrop of the Grande Mosquée, which makes up the whole of one side of the market square. The other buildings surrounding the square, with their curvaceous mud walls, provide a perfect frame for the market. Offhand, I can’t think of a market anywhere that has such a spectacular setting. The population of Djenné apparently triples on a Monday, and it is definitely packed pretty solid with stalls and people. The going underfoot is surprisingly clean, and there are none of those puddles of unknown liquid that you usually find in the markets. You will, however, find there is always someone in your way and you will always be constantly in someone else’s way.

It’s almost certain that you will tread on feet, trip over goods for sale, and attract hordes of small children, all the while apologising repeatedly. I got the distinct impression that it was not customary to do this as nobody else seemed to be apologising. I didn’t get the vibe that people were being rude though as there were plenty of smiles and nods of greeting. The range of stuff on sale is huge although very little of it belongs in the souvenir category. Unless of course you like quirky souvenirs–my sister loved her non-electric two-tone plastic kettle, and I’m still kicking myself for not buying the Osama bin Laden watch I saw. I’m always slightly puzzled by the popularity of nylon in hot countries, and the market in Djenné was no exception. It was everywhere; football shirts, mountains of multi-coloured bras, children’s clothing, socks, and bolts of fabric. Plastic too; buckets, jewellery, toys, flower garlands, empty bottles, and shoes.

Tablets and medicines were sold by the same guy who sells cigarettes. Wares laid out all over the ground in front of and in between stalls were melons, spices, beads, limes, and cola nuts. The tantalising smell of fresh doughnuts! It’s a great market, and if it all gets a bit much you can nip-off down a side street for some peace and quiet. If you walk in an easterly direction away from the market, through the winding streets, you will eventually reach the edge of town and the start of the river floodplain. Looking over the floodplain, you will see it is occupied by hundreds of horses with brightly painted carts. These carts are loaned to local farmers and traders for 5 days a week as part of a local initiative to combat the problem of rubbish pollution. In exchange for this, the farmers and traders use the carts to clear up rubbish on the 2 remaining days of the week; including Tuesday, the day after market day. The floodplain is Djennés photogenic answer to the supermarket car park.

Artinasat and Fetish Market Like a lot of buildings in Bamako, this low Sudanese...
Medina Coura Market Imagine a riot of colours and aromas. Street calls,...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.