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Pro
Wonderful photo safari of architecture and people
Con
Harassing, too many tourists...
In a nutshell
The best place to meet the history of Mali
ZeekLTK Says: The most fascinating, and famous, thing to do in Djenne is to check out the mud structures. These massive buildings were constructed with only basic earth materials such as mud and clay. They did not use any "solid" materials such as metal or even stone to build or support...
hydronetta Says: Finding a guide speaking english in a francophone country like Mali is rare though due to the increasing number of non french speaking tourists some local guides try their best to learn some english. We were lucky enough that Alhousseiny Sininta, a local guide from Djenne...
More Djenne Village Adventures
atufft Says: The villages contrast quite radically in traditional practices. In a Muslim village, the women covered their hair and were quite modest in their dress. In another village, the women were topless and basically unashamed of their beautiful black skin. Regardless of gender or...
atufft Says: The stunning costumery that market goers wore impressed me a lot. I found both men and women in exotic tribal dress and others creatively using the castaway garments from American Good Will industries. Watching market place transactions, and the movement of animal pulled...
Even More Great Djenne Village Portraits
atufft Says: I should also note that contrary to popular belief among those who have not traveled here, the vast majority of the children and adults I found in the villages were happy, healthy, and fed a good diet. Tribal children were as energetic, happy, and healthy as I've ever seen...
atufft Says: Taking portraits of tribal people is not easy because they misunderstand or mistrust the gadgetry of the camera, not knowing exactly what the tourist will do with their image. So, I took a portable printer to facilitate an exchange of gifts of sorts--a printed image for the...
McCoq Says: Just walk, go with the flow. Talk with people, observe them, respect them and they will do the same with you. They are so nice people, like in whole Mali. Don't stay just in the center, walk in all the streets, get ,lost and forget time. Then you'll enjoy the city.
Hotel La Fleuve: Could be much better
chrisvandenbroucke Says: As the first clients, we could choose where to sit. Outside is nice but too many insects fell in our plates. Moreover it was too dark with only a small candlelight.Inside there was too much rumour because a big part of the village was looking at a footballmatch..Fish with...
Chez Baba: Is better than the other one
chrisvandenbroucke Says: You can sit inside or outside in the big courtyard.Not many possibilities: the menu differs every day and is written on a chalkboard. Fixed prize: 2800 CFA (not very cheap)Mostly only chicken with or without rice, taboulet, fries or couscousGood food and plentyBig Castel...
Helpfulness
Since Djenne is a tourist and market town, the evening entertainment can be quite good. There are various festivals throughout the year, the most notable of which includes the plastering of the great mud mosque. But, on any given night, hotels will allow drums and dancers to entertain an audience. This entertainment is informal but very exciting to watch. All one needs is a drum in an African band, and the dancing of the women is energetic.
Dress Code: No dress code. This is a hot part of the world, so forget the tie. I'd wear shoes and it's always worthwhile considering whether or not the mosquitoes will bite.
Written Aug 18, 2005
Address: Most hotels
lotharscheer Says: On monday's (marketday) a bus leaves around 7 am Mopti 2500 CFA, returns around 3 pm.If you want to go from Bamako to Djenne there is a ocasional direct buses, otherwise take a overnight bus (with daytime buses you don't get a connection to Djenne) to Mopti until the...
flynboxes Says: The only real way to get here via a quick ferry ride after about an hour (give or take traffic from Mopti) by car. Ferry is a quick ride once the thing has arrived...they run all day taking supplies to the city. You can drive on or walk on and it is a nice ride accross the...
Bamako Pickups in Mali 2nd chapter.....
renatob Says: Read first chapter first...(the mopti transportation tip)if you decide to go by pickup(bear in mind that bamako is around 600kms away)However there is one direct bus to bamako every thursday at 8sharp and I wasn't sarcastic.Comparing to pickups this is first class transport,...
flynboxes Says: The market in the old city is fairly common. Usual mix of local food and craft along with the imported household items from China. The spice markets are always fun for me even if I end up getting more than a nose full of the scents Best thing to do is look around. If you...
Near the Mosque: African masks and junk
atufft Says: Browse the market area outside the Mud Mosque and you'll soon find a row of mud buildings that are stocked with masks and other souvenirs. Everything is dusty and dirty, except maybe the jewelry which is kept covered, but that's OK. The wood masks are made in large numbers...
Fishing in the puddles outside Djenne
atufft Says: In the Djenne market, one sees piles of dried fish. Much of the fish undoubtably comes from the water immediately surrounding the town, and so watching the fisherman work is of some interest. At the time we arrived, the dry season hadn't quite finished and much of the...
chrisvandenbroucke Says: Everywhere on the streets, you see the wooden table football games.I would like to take one home with me but my backpack isn't big enoughKids love it.I noticed that most of the times some players were missing... Injured, transferred of just in hospital....
Helpfulness
The transportation problem for Djenne is that it's actually off the main highway between Segue and Mopti. So, the means if you take a bus to Djenne, the bus will ultimately drop you off on the way to Mopti. We arrived around midnight at the crossroads, which was pitch black except for the lights of the bus which was motoring to leave us alone in what appeared to be nowhere. Hungry bachee drivers wanted horrificly high prices for the 20 minute drive to Djenne, and by the looks of their vehicles, we wondered whether vehicle could survive the trip. Also, the drivers wanted to wait and fill up the vehicle, which meant that we might wait an hour or longer, something we didn't want to do considering we hadn't booked a hotel yet. Given the late hour, we decided to pay the price (which in terms of American dollars amounted to about $30- as I recall) and to our surprise cargo and people from everywhere suddenly loaded into the old rusty Peugot. The driver needed a push start and a knock on his headlights. Eventually, we reached the ferry and the town of Djenne. Arriving anywhere is always the hard part, but in the dark it's especially spooky. But, in the end, the personal danger doesn't seem to have been as great as we had feared.
Updated Aug 17, 2005
Helpfulness
Arriving at Djenné by bus or bush taxi is a fight. They let you on the large square in front of the mosque.
There, a real horde of fake guides grabs at everything that looks like a tourist… Almost unbearable.
No danger at all of course: simply worrying. But so much worrying that I still wonder if the whole city is not a tourist trap...
Don't misunderstand: I'm used to this kind of things and I usually don't bother. But up to this extend, I've seen this only twice: in Djenné and in Dori (Burkina).
Unique Suggestions: Better to hire one of the fake guides to get rid of 30 others. Select him intuitively or at random, it does not matter…: anyway, they know almost nothing about their own city’s history, architecture, etc…
The one we chose (Malamy) was a good boy, 20 years old, good company, funny and even moving… but completely incompetent as a guide!
At least, we had peace.
Fun Alternatives: It’s probably better to come to Djenné with a group than as an independent tourist.
Written Oct 23, 2003
flynboxes Says: The sewers in Djenne are open air...... My guide claimed that they chiefs had been given the money to bury them in the ground but instead bought German cars and sent their kids abroad for schooling with it. I guess it adds to the charater of the place regardless.
Djenne is a Market Town with a Great Mud Mosque
For the world, the world's largest mud building is certainly the attraction here. But, the building wouldn't have been so grand if Djenne were not also a great market town. The Mosque itself is barely...
Nice city for sure. It has been listed in Unesco’s World Heritage. The mosque (first built in 1280) is fantastic. There are nice pieces of architecture everywhere. The market (on monday) is considered...
Djenne is situated on an island in the Bani river. The entire city is a UNESCO world heritage site, as the city is almost entirely built of mud. The most famous building in Djenne is for sure the...
Djenne is included on the list of the Unesco, patrimony of the humanity. They can not build any house made of cement without asking to the Unesco, so it is more or less like it was a long, long time...
Build your own Djenne page
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