Mali travel guide

Mali's capital can be a challenge. Bamako is a necessary transport and visa stop for most travellers, but unless you thrive in hot, heavy trafficked and overcrowded cities you're not likely to enjoy it here. It's dry, dusty and dirty. Dust and car fumes will make eyes itch and the throat sore; the garbage littered streets will probably make you twitch – try breaking through the mouth. However, as the place is hard to avoid why not make the best of it? The National Museum and adjutant botanic garden are among the best in West Africa and a pleasant escape from the city's hassle. The nightlife's vivid and the music scene rival those of Dakar and Conakry – traditional music and lessons are also easily arranged. If night time drinking doesn't do the trick, many guesthouses can arrange booze cruises on the Niger. Lastly, the northern hill of Point G offers some great views of the city. Alternatively, simply stroll through the lobby of Hotel de l'Amitié like you own it, take the lift up to the 14th floor and enjoy the view from there.

Disliking Bamako is easy. It's a lot harder to dislike the city's many authentic markets. The streets around the Grand Marché are some of the most chaotic in the entire city, but inside the chaos have somehow been structured. Even more rewarding is the Artisan's Market to the northeast. Silversmiths, carpenters and leather workers are here busy hammering, sawing and sewing in their designated squares. There's relatively little pressure to buy their wears, and the feeling of watching the raw materials take form is strangely satisfying. To the north of here, things turn more foreign. The marked for traditional medicine is not just full of herbs, dried plants and other such remedies curing everything from hangovers to impotence. More morbid is the dried animal skins; especially from snakes and iguanas, but also from antelopes and lions. Most scary are the piles of dried heads, who'd neatly parted way with the desert dogs' bodies.

Want to cruise down the Niger in style but on a local budget? COmpagnie MAlienne de NAVigation got your back. Despite specialising in river crossings and barges transporting rice, gasoline and more, Mali's state-owned ferry company also have two boats making the long journey from Bamako's port Koulikoro all the way to Gao. The boats more resemble yachts than ferries. However, schedules are elusive, delays frequent and the facilities inside the bright exterior are worn. But it sure beats sitting on your luggage exposed to the baking sun in a leaky pirogue. In theory, these boats make the journey every week or so when the river's water level is high enough (approx. Nov.-Feb.). The real trick here is to secure the tickets. There are only two luxury cabins, fitted with TV, queen size bed and own shower. Other options include bunks in small dorms or flight seats. Travel time between each of the ferries' stops are about a day – plus whatever it's delayed.

Renowned for its Great Mosque, the largest earth-built structure in the world, Djenné offers far more. Build on a small island in the Niger Inland Delta the area has been cultivated since at least 200 BC. While the current town "only" dates back to the 14th century, it's one of the most memorable destinations in Mali. The entire town is built by mud and traditional banco mud houses, two stories high, line the narrow streets. International efforts to stop inhabitants from switching to concrete and other modern building materials have saved the town. A museum, an artisans' house and a library of ancient manuscripts are the most interesting sights beside the mosque. The mosque itself is breathtaking. Rising 18,5 metres above the plateau it's built on, everything is made of mud. Even the roof and the pillars holding it. Non-Muslims are formally forbidden to enter, but the caretaker will openly offer to ignore this rule, should a visitor make the right donation. As the ban is due to historical, rather than religious reasons, we won't judge anyone who accepts the offer.

The picturesque and remarkable territory around the Bandiagara escarpment is named after the Dogon people who live here. The escarpment is a 200 km long sandstone cliffside, towering 300 to 500 metres above the sandy plains that run all the way to Burkina Faso. The Dogons live in village scattered here over three different areas: the plateau, on top of the cliff; the falaise, or cliffside, were villages hug the steep rocks; and the plains. The area is spectacular, both naturally and culturally, with the Dogon people still protecting their unique cultural traits. While short visits to some of the bigger towns are possible, most villages can only be reached by foot. Exploring these requires multi-day treks, but also offer the largest rewards regarding insights into the Dogon way-of-life and the exploration of the escarpment's pathways and cliffside alleys. Guides are not an official requirement, but basically essential nonetheless. Not only to find your way and for understanding the Dogons, but primarily as to avoid breaking the many taboos surrounding Dogon life.

The Dogons are mainly farmers and hunters. They have lived in isolation in the Dogon Country since sometime around the fifteen century, and until Mali's independence they mostly managed to reject outside influences, including those of Islam and Colonialism. Their religious and cultural traditions have thus survived to this day, and can still be seen in practice today. Hunting ceremonies, masked dancing and animal sacrifices to their ancestors are all part of everyday life for the Dogons – even for those who have converted to Christianity or Islam. An altogether friendly bunch, visitors should bring a considerable amount of respect for local traditions, curiosity to learn, and a lot of kola nuts to hand out as gifts of honour.

The villages of Dogon Country are a unique feature of the Dogons. Whether build by stone, on top of the escarpment, or by clay on the plains, all Dogon villages have certain, significant, buildings. Arranged into quarters inhabited by particular families the villages are structured around a number of togu na - covered meeting place for elders. They are built low, so when tempers run high anyone who was to stand up in anger will knock his head on the ceiling and immediately turn quite. Most notably for the visitor, however, are the many granaries, with their straw roofs, used to store not only millet and other foods, but also valuables such as clothes and jewellery. Placed high above the village is the house of the hogen (village king) with a sacred throne that is also used as an altar. Animals are also sacrificed in the binou shrine – an animist temple often found in the village centre. Lastly, each quarter also has a maison des femmes or menstruation house, where women have to live for five days during their menstruation period.

Busy, busy, busy. This best describe central Mali's most important port. Connecting the Saharan north to the lusher south, Mopti performs much the same role as the old caravan towns further north: joining trade between Mali's different regions. This commercial role means most goods can be found on Mopti's harbour: Salt, animals and raw materials from the north, fabrics, fruits and artisan products from the south. It is also a convenient port for anyone who wants to explore the Niger but feels the entire journey from Bamako (Koulikoro) to Gao is too ambitious. Boat-builders, pirogue-captains and tour-guides add everything up to a delightful but busy destination. Away from the harbour, Mopti has less to offer. A mud-build mosque, Djenné-style, but smaller and squashed into a too little space making it a lot less spectacular. Market days on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays largely expanse the already hectic port activities.

Mali's ultimate lifeline. Not only because it's a source of fresh water and makes it possible to grow crops in the dry Sahel and Sahara; for more than a millennium the Niger has been the main highway for trade between some of West Africa's most important cities and kingdoms. The Ghana, Mali and Songhay Empires lived off the river, and to this day, more goods are transported by way of the river than on Mali's highways. The best way to experience the river is by pinasse, just a few centimetres above the water's surface. Almost all of the 1700 km that flows through Mali is navigable, but most traffic is between the harbours of Koulikoro (for Bamako), Ségou, Mopti and Kabara (for Timbuktu). Tour companies in Ségou and Mopti can arrange comfortable and quick outings on the river, but for the authentic experience find one of the bigger pinasses overloaded with passengers and goods. Saint-like patience and plenty of time are needed for this, but the life around the communal bowls of rice will undoubtedly lift the spirits of any depressed traveller.

Mali's fine pottery production is anything else than mass produced copies. Behind the finished clay products is hardworking village women, for whom the entire week is structured around the pottery production. The women of Kalabougou, the easiest village to visit, gather the clay on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, form it on Thursdays and Fridays before burning it in large communal fires during the late afternoons of Saturday and Sunday. All this in preparation for sailing the finished products to Ségou on Mondays – Market Day. It's possible to follow the process on any day of the week, though it's most spectacular during the weekends were the fires are lit, and smoke cover the village and its surrounding fields.