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Mali is a country with a rich cultural heritage. However it is not always easy to discover its sights. In many places the infrastructure is below average.
The country’s north is made up of desert. Along the ancient Sahara caravan routes one finds a few oases. The Sahel zone is located in the center of the country. The south is dominated by savanna. The vast plains in the interior are lined by the rivers Senegal and Niger. Famous towns are located at the banks of the Niger; for example Timbuktu.
It is the legendary capitol of the desert. Segou is the second-largest town in Mali. It had its heyday during the middle of the 18th century. Splendid colonial buildings are witnesses of those times. Mopti is located where the Niger and Bani join. It is therefore called Venice of Africa. The town stretches across three islands. During colonial times the small fishing village became an important trading center; salt from the Sahara was exchanged for gold. Until today Mopti is the most important business center between Bamako and Timbuktu.
In ancient times Djenne was the cultural center of the kingdom Mali. Nowadays the town is the center of Koran studies. The world famous mosque was built from loam and is 20 meters high. Once a year it is maintained. Rain is always a threat to the building. The weekly market on Monday draws a large crowd of thousands of people. Here they trade rice, indigo, millet, dried fish, vegetables, fruits, animals, crafts. The market is further an information exchange place for the people.
The Hombori Mountains are fascinating. They are surrounded by merlons and towers which look like Middle Age castles. Everyone traveling to Mali will certainly want to experience the Sahara. There are plenty of possibilities to do so.
A typical Malian dish is La Capitaine Sangha (a kind of perch, spicy chili sauce, baked bananas and rice). They drink many different kinds of fruit juices, especially tamarind and guava juice.
Some geography:
The Republic Mali stretches over an area of 1.2 million square kilometers; 60 percent of which are desert land. 11 million inhabitants share the remaining 40 percent of the country. They belong to different ethnic groups, e.g.: Bambara, Malinke, Fulbe, Tuareg, Dogon or Bozo.
Official language is French. Besides that every ethnic group has its own language. 90 percent of the people are Muslims, 9 percent are part of a traditional religion. Mali’s inhabitants celebrate their national holiday on September 22nd. On that day in 1960 the country separated from Federal Senegal.
Black and white:
Trips to Mali’s north are not safe. There is still a threat of possible kidnappings.
Salt is one of Mali’s treasures. It has always been more precious than gold because it is essential for life. It is produced for example in the region around Taoudenni. With camel caravans the Tuareg transport the sheets to Mopti. The white gold is also produced in the Fachi oasis.
Here it is separated from the underground water and is formed to pins. These are than transported by camels. For 20 years western countries supported a development program which tries to replace the camels by trucks. The profit for the salt was sufficient to maintain the trucks, but not enough to replace old broken down ones by new trucks. Unfortunately in the desert they broke down a lot. This had the result that the camels were more efficient in the end. |
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