Mali Warning or Danger Tips by zrim

Let's face the facts here: if you are used to a comfortable life in America, Europe or Australia and then travel for any extended time in an underdeveloped place like Mali-- sickness of some nature is almost a given.

I was as careful as I could possibly be. I did not eat raw vegetables or salads. I checked to make sure that the meats were cooked through. I ate plenty of bread. Drank only bottled water. And ate only fruits that come with a protective shell--like watermelon or citrus. But eight days in, I became very ill with some sort of food poisoning. For the next 96 hours my food intake consisted of a total of five pieces of bread. I was continually on the verge of dehydration because I could not drink enough water to compensate for that which was being lost on the other end. Quite a miserable time when combined with the blaring sun and heat in the Dogon country. But I knew going in that such an illness was probable and I did not sit around feeling sorry for myself. I continued with the explorations of the Dogon culture and made the best of it.

Pack pepto bismal, imodium and cipro. If you are lucky your bowels will clear in a day or two (like Becky). If you have worse luck (like me) you will at least want the imodium so that you can venture more than twenty feet from your bathroom.

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Mali is poor. I mean extremely poor. In 2004 it ranked as the 174th out of 177 countries in the United Nations Human Development Index (HDI). Just ahead of Burkina Fasso, Niger and Sierra Leone. And well behind such troubled countries as Haiti, Chad, Sudan and Rwanda.

The Human Development Index uses data on life expectancy, education and standard of living for its composite index.

In 2002 life expectancy at birth in Mali was estimated at 48.5 years. Only 19% of adults were literate. Almost 75% of the population existed on less than $1 per day of income.

These are some more of the chilling facts: There is a twelve percent infant mortality rate; While another ten percent do not survive to the age of five; Thirty percent of the population does not have access to water from wells meaning they subsist on contaminated surface waters; And there is only one physician per 25,000 residents.

Yet, the people seem happy and mostly content.

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One aspect of Mali was particularly difficult for me to get past--the strewn garbage in almost every neighborhood. I realize that there is undoubtably a severe shortage of landfills and very little organized garbage pickup. But to see the landscape given over to trash piles is disheartening. The average African seems very meticulous and fastidious when it comes to dress and grooming, yet thinks nothing of wading through the trash heaps that abut his or her home.

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Even in the cool season Mali is extremely hot and dry (into the 90s F and 30s C in December). In some places shade is a precious commodity. Forget about cloud cover--we didn't see more than two or three wispy clouds in two weeks.

Take a hat to keep the sun off your head. And always have plenty of water at hand. It is literally impossible to drink too much water. There were days that I went through two liters of water and several beers and did not ever have to find a W.C. to relieve myself. Dehydration is a distinct possibility for anyone who is not careful and I suspect that dehydration is particularly unfun in a place like Mali where medical facilities are few and far between.

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Everything is for sale in Mali and always at a small small price--at least according to the hawkers whose only goal is to separate the traveler from his or her cash.

At the end of a hike to the remotest Dogon village, you can be sure to encounter a merchant peddling his wares and for you, he is willing to give his best best price.

"No thank you, I don't want any of your crap" the weary traveler insists. "No problem, just look, no obligation" the hawker responds. "For you, it is cheap cheap."

And so on, and so on, and so on. Everywhere you go, products you don't want will be offered.

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In the capital city of Bamako the pollution is down right horrific. It is not much of an exageration to state that it is possible to cut the fumes with a knife. Much of the problem comes from substandard vehicles and no emissions standards. But fires and blowing dust from the Saharra also contribute to the poor air quality.

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