"Mali" a Mali Travel Page by sachara

Long before I visited Mali in 1989 for the first time, I had the wish to go there. The famous and mysterious names like Timbuktu, Djenne and Segou attracted me. I was also very interested in the adobe-architecture, I red some books and visited exhibitions of this earth-architecture. Also the culture of the Dogons intrigued me.

I even thought, if I have visited Mali (and Yemen, another intriguing country, that I also visited in 1989) I could stop travelling, but -as you have a look at my travelpages- that was not the fact. In the contrary, it inspired me even to travel more and more.

I found out indeed that Mali is for me the most fascinating Sub-saharian country in many aspects like culture, architecture and nature. I really enjoyed my Malinese experiences.

After my first visit in 1989 I visited Mali again in 2004, this time the most western part of the country, the region of Kayes. In 2009 I visited many of the same places as in 1989. Some things have changed, but some have not. In 2009 I came to Timbuktu for the first time where I attended the fantastic Festival au Desert in Essakane, 70 km northwest of Timbuktu.

I like the people in West Africa, so I do in Mali. The wunderful people of Mali are hospitable, friendly and knew the art of living. Allthough Mali is nowadays one of the poorest countries of Africa, the people of Mali are very proud of their rich history and cultural wealth. In Mali live Bambara, Peul, Fulani, Dogon, Songhai and Tuareg. All with their own culture and cultural heritage.

My first visit to Mali in 1989 was part of a trip to five West-African countries. We started and ended in Bamako. From Bamako we went first deep-south to the border of Cote d' Ivoire. Back in Mali we visited the Dogon Country and the River Niger with Mopti and Djenne. You can read more details of this trip at my pages of:
Bankas & Bandiagara escarpment
Djiguibambo & Dogon Country
Djenne
Mopti
Bamako

My second visit to Mali in 2004 was part of a Transsahara trip, starting in Gambia, passing Senegal and Mali and continuing to Mauritania, Western Sahara and Morocco. For this trip read: Region of Kayes

For my Mali trip of 2009 look at:
Timbuktu & Essakane & Festival au Desert
I will continue with building the pages of:
Segou
Teriya Bugu
Senoussa (village close to Djenne)
And several Dogon pages:
Bandiagara, Dourou & Begnimato, Ende & Songo
And I will update the pages of Bamako, Djenne & Mopti.